


Just Add Water

by Gem1620



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Crushes, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, H20 just add water, High School, Mermaids, Secret love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 55,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23549296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gem1620/pseuds/Gem1620
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia, Juvia Lockser, and Erza Scarlet are three ordinary girls who live ordinary lives until one day they end up on the mysterious Tendrou Island and when they swim through the island's hidden pool they gain the magical powers of a mermaid. Now they have to work together to keep it a secret from those who would harm them.
Relationships: Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 35
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

Sixteen year old Lucy Heartfilia smiled to herself as she swam in the pool at her high school gym. She had always loved the water ever since she was a little girl. She didn't know why but something about being in the water made her feel so alive. She figured that she must've gotten it from her mother who had been a great swimming athlete when she was a teenager. Her house was filled with hundreds of trophies and photographs displaying her mother's success as Magnolia's top swimmer. She hoped that one day she would be a champion like her mother.

"I don't know how you can spend all day in that water Lucy." Said Lucy's long time best friend Juvia Lockser. "Aren't you worried that you might end up looking like a prune?"

"Not really and it's great exercise you know. You should try it."

"No thanks." Juvia said. "And besides I have to back home before Porlyuscia worries."

"Alright see you later."

Juvia waved goodbye to Lucy and started to head for the foster home where she lived. Ur Milkovich's Home For Lost Children. She had been living there since she was five years old, it had been right after her parents had died when the lady of the house Ur Milkovich took her into her foster care. Ur always made sure that the children she looked after felt comfortable and loved until they were adopted by prospective parents. Unfortunately Juvia was one of the children there that were never adopted but she didn't mind because she was happy there.

But Ur wouldn't be at the house for a month. She had volunteered to go on a month long trip to another country where she would be a part of the water sanitation project. That was where volunteers brought fresh drinking water to drought-ravaged children. So in the meantime Juvia and the other residents of the house would be looked after by It's assistant Porlyuscia.

"Hey Juvia!" She had just made it down to the docks when she was called over by Jellal Fernandes. He was a classmate of hers and a bit of a bully too. "Hey Juvia can you do me a favor?"

"I...I'd like to Jellal." She said nervously. "But I really need to get home."

"Come on it will only take you like five seconds. I just need you to hand me something from the boat."

"Well...Okay."

It was one of those inflatable motor boats. The kind that were typically very expensive. But considering that Jellal was the son of a very wealthy architect it was only natural that he could afford it. Juvia stepped on to the boat and began looking around it.

"What exactly do you want me to hand to you?" She asked.

"A spark plug."

"I don't see it on here."

"That's because someone took it."

"Then I don't understand why-" She stood up and saw that the boat had drifted off the dock and there stood Jellal with a smug grin on his face. At once she realized his game. "Jellal!"

"What's the problem Juvia?" He teased. "All you have to do is jump in and swim back."

"This isn't funny! You know I'm scared of the water!"

"Not my problem."

He gave her a chuckle and turned to walk away.

"Wait! Come back!" She called. "You can't just leave me like this!"

She looks looked down at the water and started to go palier than usual. She never understood why Jellal always picked on her. She had never done anything to him and yet for some reason he liked to do stuff like this to her.

"Great." She sighed. "Now what am I going to do?"

Suddenly out of nowhere, a red head came jumping off the dock and on to the boat. Juvia recognized her as the new girl who had recently started going to her school.

"Oh you scared me." Juvia said getting startled by her appearance.

"Sorry about that." The red head said.

"Um...Are you here to help me?"

"As a matter of fact yes."

"How?"

"With this baby." In her hand she held up the spark plug.

"It was you who took it?"

"Jellal's a creep. In my opinion he deserves a little misfortune once in awhile."

She hooked up the spark plug and got the motor going.

"Wow you know how to work machines?" Juvia said impressed.

"Yeah I learned from my mom. She works as an auto mechanic."

"Your mom?"

"Well when my dad was too lazy to get off his butt and get a job my mom had to be the bread winner of the family so go figure." She said. "I'm Erza by the way, Erza Scarlet."

"Juvia Lockser."

The two girls shook hands after making introductions.

"So wanna go for a ride?" Erza asked.

"I don't know. You see I have to get home at a certain time and-"

"Oh relax I'll have you home before sundown."

"What are you two doing out there?" Lucy had been walking home as well when she saw them. 

"Just taking a little boat ride." Erza said. "Wanna join?"

"Are you licensed?" Lucy asked.

"Are you my mother? Come on let's take a trip out to sea."

"Is that safe?"

"Don't worry I know what I'm doing."

After some coaxing they were able to get Lucy into the boat. They went out to sea which at first was pretty fun until the motor ran out of gas.

"Got any gas on you genius?" Lucy snipped.

"Calm down we're not sinking." Erza said.

"What are we going to do?" Juvia asked. "We can't just float out here in the middle of the ocean...Can we?"

"Hey look over there." Erza pointed in the distance. "A island."

Indeed but this was no ordinary island. It was the mysterious Tendrou Island where according to many legends and myths had magical properties. Many believed that the mystical force surrounding the island had caused a terrible Tsunami that had taken place in Magnolia eleven years earlier.

"I don't think we should go there." Juvia said. "There are sharks and reefs all around the island."

"Not to mention snakes and spiders." Lucy added.

"It's either we paddle to the island or we stay here and drift." Erza picked up a paddle. "I vote for the island."

Erza was very good at being persuasive because she had convinced the other two to help her paddle to the island. Once they reached land they tried to call someone with their cell phones but there was no service.

"We might be able to find a signal if we get to higher ground." Lucy suggested.

So the three of them went into the huge jungle area that was on the island. There was plenty of plant life but it was all very shady and misty. Like therce was fog everywhere.

"I don't like this place." Juvia said. "I feel like we're not supposed to be here."

"We won't be here long." Lucy assured her. "I think I'm finally starting to get a signal.

"That's a relief." Erza said. "Hey can any of you see where you're going? Because I can't. This fog is making me as blind as a bat. We could probably get lost in here."

"Not if we hold hands." Juvia said. "If we hold hands then we won't get separaaaaah!"

Suddenly Juvia fell down a large hole of some sort.

"Juvia!" Lucy and Erza rushed over to the hole where she had fallen.

"Juvia are you alright?" Lucy called.

"I'm fine." She answered.

"Do you think that you can climb back up?" Erza asked.

"I don't know. I'll try."

Juvia tried to climb back up but it was too steep and slick so she ended up falling back down.

"I can't climb up." She said. "It's too slippery."

"Alright I have an idea. Erza grab my waist." Lucy said.

Erza did as she was told and Lucy leaned over into the hole.

"Juvia try to climb back up again and grab my hand, I'll pull you up."

"Okay."

Juvia tried again to climb back up. Lucy leaned out as far as she could and reached for her friend. But just when Lucy and Juvia's hands managed to grab on to each other Erza slipped sending both her and Lucy down the hole.

"You two okay?" Juvia asked after they fell.

"I think I scrapped something on the way down." Erza said.

"Now we're all trapped down here." Lucy said.

"Maybe not." Erza said. "Do you guys hear that?"

It was the sound of water dropping.

"There's water somewhere in here. I read about caves with water in Miss Stellar's class. They typically lead to rivers, lakes, or pools, if we find either of them we might be able to swim out of here."

"Swim?" Juvia squeaked.

"Let's hope you're right about that." Lucy said.

"Follow the dripping."

They followed the noise and it led them to the center of Tendrou Island's long extinguished volcano. A rather beautiful place with a small pool of the bluest water either one of the girls had ever seen and if you looked up you could see the night sky full of stars.

"Wow." Erza said in amazement.

"Did you ever see anything so incredible in your entire life?" Lucy asked

"It is lovely." Juvia said.

"And it looks like Erza was right, there is a pool and if it leads to the ocean then we can get out of here." Lucy said. "You two wait here. I'll be right back."

Lucy quickly jumped into the pool and swam away. A little while later she came back.

"Does it lead to the ocean?" Erza asked.

"Yep so we just have to swim our way out."

"I'm in." Then Erza jumped in.

"No I can't." Juvia said. "Lucy you know how I feel about the water."

"Juvia there's no other way out." Erza said.

"But I can't swim and I'm afraid of the water."

"You'll be fine." Lucy said. "Besides what other choice do you have?"

"We'll be right with you the whole time." Erza said. "We won't let you drown, promise."

Lucy and Erza both stretched their hands out to Juvia. She hesitated for a moment but eventually she took their hands and allowed them to pull her into the water.

At that very moment, the full moon appeared over the top of the volcano and it bathed the girls in its light. Some bubbles appeared on the surface of the pool and rose up towards the top of the volcano.

"That was odd." Juvia said.

"Try weird." Erza said.

"Nevermind that let's just get going." Lucy said.

All three of them took a deep breath and swam through the underwater passageway beneath the pool which took them back out to see. When they emerged from the surface they were spotted by the water police who picked them up and brought them home. Little did they know that they had not left the island unchanged.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning after breakfast, Lucy decided to go down to the beach for a swim. She put on her sunscreen, let it dry for a little bit, then dived into the sea. For a moment all she felt was the same wonderful sensation she usually got from when she went swimming but that was quickly replaced by a strange new feeling. The water below her started to bubble as her body changed. Looking down she realized that her legs had been replaced by an orange fish tail, a glittering starfish had been pinned to her hair, and her swimsuit top had been replaced by a top that matched her pin.

"What the heck?!" She cried in disbelief.

Meanwhile Juvia had decided to start her morning by taking a bath. But shortly after getting into the tub her legs changed into a purple fish tail and a white coral barrette appeared in her hair along with a matching top.

"Huh?!" She gasped at the sight of her tail.

"Juvia how long are you going to soak in there?!" Cried the cranky voice of Porlyuscia from behind the bathroom door. "Remember that Cheila and Romeo need a bath too!"

"O...Okay Porlyuscia I...I'll be out in a minute!"

As for Erza she was taking a morning jog when she ran by a lawn that had sprinklers going. A few droplets of water were sprayed in her direction and about ten seconds after making contact with her skin she found herself falling to the ground with a red fish tail, a seashell top, and a matching seashell headband in her hair. 

"No way." 

Later when the girls dried off they changed back and immediately went to meet with each other. They chose to meet up Lucy's place because her father wouldn't be there, he would be at work. 

"And you're sure that on one else is here?" Juvia asked Lucy when they arrived. 

"Yes. Dad just left for work and the staff have the day off."

"Nice place you got here." Erza said observing the large house with expensive furniture. "If I may ask what exactly does your dad do for a living?" 

"You know Magnolia's marine park Ryuzetsu Land?" Lucy said. "My dad is the owner."

"Serously?"

"Yep, it was him and Mom's special project in college."

"No wonder you're so loaded."

"Yeah I'm rich whatever. Now can we talk about why we're here? Have any of you experinced anything strange happen to you when you get wet?"

"You mean like have we grown fish tails?" Erza said. "I have."

"So have I?" Juvia said.

"Then that makes three of us." Lucy said. "Happened to me at the beach."

"And did you lose your tail when you were dry again?" Erza asked.

"Yes."

"What's going on?" Juvia wondered. "We get wet and we sprout tails. We get dry and we sprout legs. Are we turning into fish?"

"I wouldn't call us turning into fish." Erza said. "I thinks it's more like us turning into mermaids."

"Mermaids?" 

"Yeah you know mermaids. Half woman half fish."

"That's ridiculous there's no such thing as mermaids." Lucy said.

"Then what do you call a girl with a fish tail?"

"I don't know but we can't be mermaids."

"I'm pretty sure that's what we are."

"How did this happen?" Juvia said. "And what should we do? Should we call a doctor?"

"No!" Erza objected. "Haven't you ever seen what happens to mermaids in movies when people find out about them? They lock them up or study them or disect them and I'm not interested in being lab rat."

Knock-knock!

"Who's that?" Erza asked.

"I don't know." Lucy looked through the peep hole of her front door. On the other side was a young man around their age. "Juvia it's Gray."

"Gray? What's he doing here?"

Gray Fullbuster was a close friend of Juvia's. In fact they were more than just close friends, they had lost their parents around the same time and had grown up together in Ur's foster home. She had known him longer than she had known Lucy. 

"Oh no I forgot. I was supposed to help him study for his test today." Juvia said. 

"You needed to help him?" Lucy said confused. "I thought he was super smart."

"In math and science but he struggles in literature and history which I happen to get straight A's in."

Juvia went to the door and opened it.

"Hi Gray." She said.

"I thought you would be here." Gray said. "I couldn't find you anywhere this morning, what's going on?"

"I'm sorry I forgot. Something came up."

"Like what?"

"It's...It's complicated. Listen I'll still help you study but can we do it this afternoon? Please, I really need to do something much more important right now."

"Alright I'll see you this afternoon."

"Wait Gray!"

"Yeah." 

"You...You know a lot about fish right?"

"Sure. I mean I am studying to become a marine biologist one day."

"Okay do you think that you might be able to find out something about unsual fish."

"What kind of unsual fish?"

"Oh you know like um...Jellyfish, anglerfish, cuddlefish, barracuda,...Mermaids?"

"Mermaids? Juvia you know those aren't real right?"

"Right! Silly me heh, heh." She giggled nervously. "I'll talk to you later okay? Bye!"

She then closed the door.

"She's my best friend but she can be so weird sometimes." Gray said to himself before walking away.

"Are you crazy?" Erza told Juvia once they were sure that Gray was gone.

"What?"

"You can't ask Gray to look into mermaids."

"Why not? He's very smart, he might be able to provide an explaination."

"And he might also find out that we're mermaids and sell us to the nearest circus." 

"He wouldn't do that."

"Still we're taking no chances." Lucy said. "We can't tell anyone about this. Not our other friends and not our families."

"Don't worry there's no way I'm telling my mom about this." Erza said. "She's already got enough stress to handle."

"Lord only knows what my dad would do if he ever found out." Lucy said. "He would probably have a heart attack and die."

""Maybe they won't take it so bad." Juvia said. "I mean I know Ur wouldn't."

"Juvia you can't tell Ur about this." Lucy told her sternly.

"But I tell Ur everything. She always says that I can go to her for any problem."

"She wouldn't understand. Nobody would understand that's why we have to keep it a secret."

"Fine I won't tell anyone...Except Gray."

"No!"

"But Gray has always kept my secrets, even when we were little. If I can't trust him I can't trust anybody."

"That's the point." Erza said. "We can't trust anyone with this."

"She's right Juvia, no telling Gray." 

"Alright." Juvia sighed. "I won't tell anyone."

In the afternoon Juvia went to do her study session with Gray. They went to the libary and read several books on the history of Magnolia as that was what they were being tested on. But Gray noticed that Juvia didn't seem to be all that interested in their studies.

"Everything okay?" He asked her as they walked back home together.

"Yes I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. You just seem a little distracted."

"I'm not distracted. All I've been thinking about is the events leading up to how Magnolia was founded." As she spoke these words her eyes were glued to the sidewalk below her.

"Juvia you're looking at your feet." Gray said.

"So?"

"So you only do that when you're lying. You've done it ever since we were kids now what's up?"

"Well I...It's a...I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's a private thing."

"Private? What private thing could distract you so- Oh...Oh I get it I'm sorry."

"No it's not!...Nevermind." She figured it was best that he think that.

"So referring to what you said earlier, why the interest in mermaids?" 

"Well we...We do live by the sea and a lot of people do talk about them. In stories I mean."

"Uh-huh. Well I decided to dig up a little information on them since you're so curious about them and I learned some interesting things."

"Like what?"

"Apparently legends and myths about them are as old as time itself. They're famous for being great hunters of sea life, singing siren songs, and causing natural disastors."

"Really?"

"Hmm-hmm."

They were halfway home when they were stopped by a motor cycle being driven by Jellal. Sensing trouble the two tried to ignore him but they blocked their way. He looked very angry which made Juvia a little scared.

"What do you want Jellal?" She asked.

"My father didn't aprreciate the water police coming to our house." He said. "He had to pay a ticket for his boat being left on that island and he grounded me for it."

"That's not my fault. You left me drifting on it remember?"

"If you had just swam back and brought the boat with you none of this would have happened! But no! You had to be a stupid and scared little girl!"

"Leave her alone Jellal!" Gray defended. "It's your fault you got grounded! And you know it!"

"Out of my way loser, I'm not dealing with you right now."

"You got a lot of nerve picking girls like that Jellal. Why don't you ever pick on the boys? Scared that somebody might fight back?"

"Someone like you, you mean? Don't make me laugh. I could take you in five seconds flat."

Juvia was getting real nervous. Why couldn't Jellal just leave them alone? Didn't he have anything better to do? 

"If only he would just go away." She thought to herself. She looked around, seeing nothing but a tree and a fire hydrant. "I wish something could just make him go away."

As she kept thinking that in her head over and over again she srucnched her fingers up togther. The fire hydrant starting to shake and it burst open spraying Jellal saw hard that it sent him rolling down a grass hill. Juvia blinked in shock.

"Whoa! What just happened?" Gray asked while scratching his head.

"Uh...I gotta go. See you later Gray."

And she was long gone before he could stop her. She quickly called Lucy and Erza, telling them to that they should meet up so she could show them something. Just like in the morning they got together at Lucy's house. 

"So what did you want to show us?" Erza asked.

Juvia grabbed a glass and filled it with water from the sink. She moved her hand around near the glass and the water began to rise up from the cup. Lucy and Erza's jaws both dropped at the sight of it.

"How are you doing that?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know." Juvia answered.

She put her hand down and the water started to fall toward Lucy. She held up her hand in fear which caused the water to instantly freeze. 

"Did I do that?" Lucy asked.

"It wasn't me." Juvia replied. 

"Cool." Erza said. "Let me try."

Erza held out her hand to the frozen water, trying to make it change or do something but nothing happened.

"No fair why don't I have any powers?"

"Don't ask me." Juvia said. "This is so freaky."

"You think?" Lucy said. "I dont 'know what we've gotten ourselves into but I'm pretty sure that we are way in over heads." 

So the three ordinary girls were no longer ordinary and they had a lot ahead of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Wanting to learn more about what had happened to them, Lucy and Erza decided to go swimming in the ocean. They went to a remote spot on the beach where they knew they couldn't be seen by anyone. Together they stood in their bathing suits just a few inches from where the tide met the sand. 

"I'm not so sure about this." Lucy said. 

"That's alright, I am." Erza said.

"That doesn't exactly give me confidence." 

They held hands and proceeded to walk toward the ocean. Just like the last time they got wet they turned into mermaids and set off to swim in the ocean. Under the water they could breathe and swim at an incredible speed but what they found the most amazing at all was that they could actually see the fish, the reefs, and all other sorts of sea flora and fauna. It was way better than any nature documentary they had seen tv. 

When they came out of the water Juvia came down the beach to greet them. In her hand she carried a basket and in her other hand she carried a few towels. 

"Good morning." She said with a smile. "I brought you some towels." 

"Thank you." Lucy said. 

"And some breakfast." 

She opened the basket which contained warm and tasty cinnamon rolls. 

"Sweet!" Erza said licking her lips. "I haven't had one of those in years." 

Juvia handed one to Erza and she took a bite.

"These are good." She said. 

"Thank you, I made them myself." 

"Really?" 

"Yep. Juvia is a great baker." Lucy said helping herself to one of the rolls. 

"So how was your swim?" Juvia asked. 

"Incredible." Erza said. "I swear what you see about the ocean on television is nothing like this." 

"It was beautiful." Lucy said. "So full of life it's... It's unreal and we can actually breathe underwater." 

"Juvia you have to swim with us. You gotta see this." 

"No I can't." 

"Why not? Are you just inching to try out your tail?" 

"No I'm not." 

"You don't know what you're missing." 

"Hey Juvia are you over here?" It was Gray. Lucy and Erza quickly swam to hide behind some rocks so when he came down he was only able to see their heads. "Juvia there you are." 

"Gray what are you doing here?" She asked. 

"I could ask you the same. But it's Porlyuscia, she wanted me to tell you not to make any plans because she has to go to a meeting tonight so we have to stay home and watch Chelia and Romeo." 

"Alright." 

"So I answered your question. Why don't you answer mine? What are you doing down here?" 

"I was just bringing Lucy and Erza some breakfast and extra towels." 

"Hi Gray." Lucy and Erza said waving to him. 

"Hi. Well I might just join you all for a swim then." 

A panicked expression crossed both Lucy and Juvia's face. Erza quickly thought of an excuse. 

"We're naked Gray." She said making the young man turn red in the face. 

"Oh...So uh...A quick swim then?" He joked while trying to hide how red he was. 

"Goodbye Gray." Lucy said. 

"Right! Sorry! I...I crack jokes when I'm nervous. Excuse me ladies." 

He ran out of there as quick as a bullet being shot out of a gun. 

"Phew! That was too close for comfort." Juvia sighed. 

"No kidding." Lucy said.

"That aside, you sure you don't want to come in the water with us Juvia?" Erza asked. 

"No." Juvia said irritated. "I'm sorry but I've never liked the water and I never will and I don't want to talk about this anymore! I need to go anyway." 

She left after that. 

"What's her deal with the water?" Erza asked Lucy. "I know she's scared but why?" 

"That's right you just moved here so you don't know." 

"Know what?" 

"About eleven years ago a tsunami struck Magnolia, it almost destroyed half the town. Juvia was at the beach with her parents when the tsunami hit. The authorities managed to get to her in time but her parents drowned. Same thing happened to Gray's parents too. That's how they both ended up in foster care." 

"My God." 

"With time Gray was able to get passed it but Juvia has been afraid of the water ever since." 

"I am a horrible person." Erza said. 

"No you're not." 

"Yes I am. I was trying to make her go swimming when in actuality I'm trying to make her relive childhood trauma." 

"She won't hold it against you. You didn't know." 

"So she's an orphan?" 

"Her, Gray, and pretty much anyone in Ur Milkovich's Home For Lost Children. Except maybe Romeo." 

"Who's he?" 

"He and Chelia are two younger kids in the system. Chelia's an orphan but Romeo's just living there while his father is in the military. He was drafted and he didn't have any living relatives who could look after Romeo. He can't wait for his dad to come home and he's really bonded with Gray and Juvia." 

"What about the other one? Chelia?" 

"Oh well...She means well and I get along with her but she really likes pester Juvia." 

"I know where she's coming from. I've got a younger sister and she can be pretty annoying but she's alright." 

"You know I've kind of envied Juvia for having Gray, Romeo, and Chelia in her life." 

"Why?" 

"Because when I was little I always wanted brothers and sisters to play with. Especially after my mom died." 

"Your mom died?" 

"When I was eight she had cancer and despite all of what my dad spent to keep her alive it just wasn't enough." 

"I'm sorry." 

"It's okay." 

"So you've only got one parent huh? Finally something we have in common aside from being mermaids that is." 

"You only have one parent too." 

"Yeah. It's just my mom." 

"Small world. Come on let's get dry before someone sees." 

The next day at school everyone was very excited because Minerva Orland announced that she was having a party this weekend. Minerva Orland was one of the most popular girls in school and a lot of people liked her even though she was mean spirited and stuck up snob who's favorite pass time was to bully who she considered less popular than her. Erza happened to be her favorite target.

"I'm sorry Erza." She said faking pity. "But I'm not supposed to bring trash to the party." 

"Well you would know a lot about trash wouldn't you Minerva?" Erza snarked. 

Minerva glared at the red head then turned to Lucy and Juvia. 

"Lucy, Juvia, listen my mom says that I have to invite you two because you're as she says 'Nice girls who would have a positive influence on me.' Just don't do anything lame." She handed each of them an invitation. 

"Gee thanks." Lucy said. 

Minerva then walked off to finish handing invitations. 

"Well at least we were invited." Juvia said reading the invite. "Oh no." 

"What?" Lucy asked. 

"It's a pool party so we can't go." 

"Good." Lucy said grabbing her books from her locker. "As if I would be caught dead at any party thrown by that snob. I mean there is nothing on this earth that could convince me to go." 

She turned to head to class but ended bumping right into Natsu Dragneel. A surfing athlete, one of the best in Magnolia. He was a real nice guy who was a friend to everybody. And he just also happened to be the love of Lucy's life. 

"Natsu!" She cried nervously. "I'm so sorry!" 

"No, no, no. It was my fault. Here let me get your books."

He quickly gathered up her fallen books and handed them to her. 

"Thank you." She said.

"I'm kind of glad that I bump into you." 

"You are?" 

"Yeah. No wait! Not like that! I mean I'm not glad that I bumped into you I'm glad that I got to see you. I haven't seen you around lately." 

"Oh... Really? You've been thinking about me?" 

"Yes. No I mean...You've come to my mind a couple times." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously then glanced down at the invitation in Lucy's hand. "I see that you got invited to Minerva's party, I guess that means I'll see you there." 

"You're going?" 

"Yep." 

"Okay. See you there."

"You too." 

Once he had left Lucy looked over to see Juvia giggling and Erza with a teasing expression on her face.

"What?" 

"So nothing on this earth that could convince you to go to Minerva's party huh?" Erza grinned. 

"Well Natsu is one of the few friends Minerva has who's not a jerk and he...He needs someone decent to talk to at the party." 

"Yeah right." 

"Lucy you've had it bad for him since elementary school." Juvia said. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, he's a great guy. He's honest and sweet and tries to be a friend to everyone." 

"Sounds like you might have a crush on him too." Erza said. 

"Me? No. He's just a very good friend of mine and besides there's someone else." 

"Really?" Lucy said. "You never told me. Who? Who is he?" 

"It's a secret." 

"Oh come on. You know you can tell me." 

"Nope. It's my own deep dark little secret." 

"Please no more talks of crushes." Erza said. 

"Haven't you ever had a crush on anyone?" Lucy asked. 

"No. Boys are all the same to me. Immature and egotistical jerks who eventually grow up to be good for nothing men that will ruin your life if you give them the chance. Or at least that's what my mom says." 

"I know plenty of decent boys." Juvia said. "There's Romeo-" 

"That doesn't count he's eight, he hasn't hit puberty yet." 

"Well what about Gray? And Natsu?" 

"There's no such thing as a decent boy. Trust me. So are you two actually going to Minerva's party? You know that spells big trouble for us." 

"Not if we avoid the pool." Lucy said. "Besides despite being a total witch, Minerva does throw good parties. Right Juvia?" 

"Actually I've never been to one of her parties. Or any high school party for that matter." 

"Seriously? But I thought you were invited to one last year." 

"They just wanted me to help with the catering. That's kind of why I wanna go. I mean this is the first time I've been invited." 

"I think it's a bad idea and that you two are taking a very big risk." Erza said. 

"We just need to be careful that's all." Lucy said. "And prepare ourselves for any emergency splashing. We can do this." 

"Uh-huh. Anyone else smell a catastrophe coming?"


	4. Chapter 4

Lucy and Juvia both tried to prepare themselves for any inconvenience that could lead them to get wet at Minerva's party and to make things more difficult the girls found themselves putting off important responsibilities that they had to work on.

"Gray I'm sorry." Juvia apologized to him at the juice bar. While preparing with Lucy she had forgotten to finish a school assignment they were partners in.

"I had to do all the work by myself." He told her. "You're lucky I still told Miss Stellar that you did your part."

"I know and I really appreciate that."

"What's going on with you? You keep avoiding me and you've been acting really weird."

"I've just been... Hanging out with Lucy and Erza. You know I can have other friends."

"That's not what I meant. I don't mind you having other friends what I do mind is you making plans with me and then breaking them. Like when we have to work on a school project together or like when you leave me to babysit Chelia and Romeo alone."

"You can handle them can't you?"

"Not alone. Did you know that last week they locked me in a closet for three hours? And I had to pee!"

"Gray I'm really, really sorry but I'll make it up to you."

"How?" 

"Well you've always wanted to go to a high school party right?"

"Yeah."

"I've been invited to Minerva's party and I'll bring you along as my date."

"Date?" He squeaked nervously.

"Yes. We'll have a good time. What do you say?"

"I...I...I guess it's okay."

"Great."

Juvia heard her phone beep. It was a text from Lucy, the message read that she wasn't going to the party and that it was too risky. Juvia sighed. If Lucy wasn't going then she probably shouldn't go either.

"On second thought I'm not going to the party."

"Wow canceled on me in just three seconds. Must be a new record."

"I'm sorry. Look you can have my allowance for two weeks. Does that make us even?"

"I don't want be even. I want an explanation."

"I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"I just can't! I'm sorry."

She left the room and immediately called Lucy and Erza to talk to them.

"This is so unfair." Juvia said. "I hate lying to Gray and I've had to cancel on him so many times. To top it all off I finally get invited to a high school party and I can't go."

As she talked she filled a cup with water and levitated a little of it into her mouth.

"You think it's unfair for you? I've been dreaming about becoming a swim champion since I was eight." Lucy said. "It's my life dream and now I'll never achieve it."

She filled a cup with juice, stuck a popsicle stick in it, and froze it making it a popsicle in two seconds.

"There are negative traits to this." Erza said. "But you know there also positive traits."

"Like what?"

"Well how about these powers that you have? Juvia you're drinking water from mid air and Lucy you just made an instant popsicle. I don't even have any powers. I honestly don't think whining about this will help our situation any further."

"Easy for you to say, this thing has probably not caused you any trouble."

"That's where you're wrong Lucy. I've had issues with this too but I don't like to complain because complaining doesn't make it go away. If you two want to just stand here and complain be my guest but I'm getting out of here."

Erza didn't mean to get so snippy with the girls but she really couldn't stand it when people complained. Especially when they acted like they were the only people in the world who had problems. She had problems too. She had promised her little sister Wendy that she would take her fishing this weekend but she had to cancel. Wendy didn't get mad just disappointed and hurt and Erza couldn't stand it when that happened to her.

"Hey Erza wait up!" It was Gray again.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Sorry to bother you but I need to ask you something. You've been hanging out with Juvia a lot lately so I was wondering if maybe you could tell me what's going on with her."

"I can't help you now go away."

"I think you know something."

"It's none of your business if I do."

"I just want to know why Juvia keeps canceling on me."

"Maybe it's because she doesn't like you. Did you ever think about that?"

"Actually that has crossed my mind but she hangs out with you so her standards must be pretty low."

"Goodbye Gray."

"Look can you tell me what's wrong or not."

"I can't."

"Please?"

"Will you just leave me alone?"

She was getting really mad and she started to clutch her hand into a fist. Suddenly the water in Gray's bottle started to bubble and steam until he came popping out.

"Hey! What the!? Ow! It's hot!" He dropped the bottle spilling the hot water. Erza managed to avoid getting splashed but her eyes were glued to the steamy water.

"Interesting." She said with a smile.

After that she began conducting her own little experiment. She went down to the beach, checked to make sure that no one was around, and scrunched her hand up over the sea causing the water to boil and become hot.

She couldn't wait to show Lucy and Juvia. Juvia was busy but Lucy was free so Erza invited her down to the beach where they swam around in the ocean for awhile then perched themselves behind the rocks.

"What did you want to show me?" Lucy asked.

"You know how you and Juvia have these powers over water?"

"Yeah?"

"So do I."

"Really? What can you do?"

"Well I-"

They were interrupted by the sound of someone whistling. They ducked under the rocks as the person walked by. Once again it was Gray who had decided to go fishing today.

"Oh great him again." Erza whispered. "Is he everywhere we go?"

"Just stay calm. Maybe he won't stay long." Lucy whispered.

"The beach chair he's setting up says otherwise."

"Then we better get him to leave."

"Right. Gray!"

"Whoa!" He said jumping up. "You two scared me."

"What are you doing?" Erza asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm fishing. What are you two doing?" He asked. "Oh no, are you two naked again?"

"We're having a girl talk."

"Yes but are you naked?"

"Go Gray!" Lucy said.

"No way this is my fishing spot. If anyone's leaving it's you two."

"Don't push it Gray." Erza warned.

"Shouldn't you be with Juvia or something?" Lucy asked.

"No I've got better things to do than follow her around. Besides as far as I know she's going to Minerva's party."

"What?! You let her go to that party alone?!"

"I figured that she would change her mind and not go at all. She's been flip-floping a lot lately."

"Gray you have to make sure that she doesn't go to the party on her own!"

"She's probably not gonna go anyway."

"Gray this is important! You've gotta do this!" Erza said.

"I am not some lackey. I'm not some all purpose servant."

"Gray she could be in real big trouble. You like her don't you?"

"Uhhh." He turned red in the face again. "In a friendship kind of way."

"Well!" Erza persisted.

Gray blew in frustration and ended up complying with their request. Meanwhile at the party Juvia was doing everything she could to distance herself from the pool at Minerva's house.

"Okay this isn't so bad." She thought to herself. "I can do this."

"Hi Juvia."

She had just been spotted by Jellal and his friend Laxus Dreyar who was just as bad if not worse than Jellal.

"Jellal I didn't know that you would be here. Having a good time?" She asked.

"I am now." He and Laxus started to walk toward her.

"Listen I don't think that you should be getting so close to me." Juvia said. "I'm getting over a cold and it's very contagious."

"You had a good laugh when I got soaked last week. Now it's your turn."

"Let's throw her in the pool Jellal." Laxus said.

"No! You can't! Please don't! Please! I can't swim! I'll drown!"

She didn't know what scared her more. Going into the water or having her be exposed as a mermaid in front of everyone. Jellal thought for a moment then made a mischievous grin.

"Alright we'll toss her in but let's make sure it's somewhere she can reach the side."

Juvia started run but before she knew it Jellal and Laxus had her by her arms and legs.

"Please stop! Stop!" She begged.

"Put her down Jellal!" Gray angrily demanded when he saw what they were about to do.

"If you insist."

To Juvia's horror Jellal and Laxus threw her into the pool.

"Do you even have a brain?!" Gray shouted at Jellal.

"You told me to let her go. So I let her go."

The other guests laughed and Jellal led them inside for a drink, leaving Gray alone to rush to the side of the pool to meet Juvia who rose up to the pool's surface and clung to the edge.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Gray there's something you should know." She said becoming more scared than she had ever been in her entire life. What frightened her so much was what Gray's reaction would be once he saw what she was. She couldn't bear it if he hated her once he found out.

At that moment, the water behind her started to bubble.

"Gray you know how I've been acting so strange lately. Don't freak out okay?"

Her legs then transformed into a tail, allowing him to see her as a mermaid. Shocked, Gray started to move away from her.

"Gray you have to help me." She pleaded. "Don't leave me please."

She held out her hand to him. He hesitated but he took hold of it. Then Lucy and Erza appeared, seeing what had happened Lucy froze the lock on the door to keep everyone inside while Gray tried to pull Juvia out of the pool.

"Can one of you help me?" He asked.

"We can't." Lucy said.

"If we get wet we'll grow tails too." Erza said.

"Both you? You mean all of you are...Oh you've got to be kidding me."

"Just get her out!" Erza said. "Hurry!"

It was a struggle but Gray managed to pull Juvia out of the pool.

"Good now everybody stand back." Erza scrunched her hand over Juvia, causing all the water on her to turn to steam. Drying her off and changing her back.

"Wow you have a power too." Juvia said.

"Could someone please tell me what's going on here?" Gray asked.

"We'll explain later now let's go." Lucy said.

The four of them quickly ran out of there and went to the beach where they told Gray the whole story.

"Of course you realize if you tell anyone this we'll maim you." Erza said.

"I won't tell!" Gray said. "I've seen the movies. I know what happens to weird creatures when people find out about them."

"So you'll keep our secret?" Juvia said.

"Absolutely."

"See? I knew we could trust him."

"I guess." Lucy said. She looked over toward the ocean and saw Natsu going toward it with his surf board. "Natsu!"

"Oh hey Lucy." He waved.

"What are you doing here? I thought you would be at Minerva's party."

"I was gonna go until I found out that nobody I really liked was going."

"Oh... That's a shame."

"Yeah I guess. See you around."

"You too."

Lucy smiled at him and turned back to her friends.

"When he said he found nobody he liked was going do you think he meant me?" 

Erza and Juvia just laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

A whole week had passed since the girls had been turned into mermaids. Lucy and Erza were having the time of their lives swimming in the ocean but Juvia was still too scared to even go into the shallow end of the sea. Lucy and Erza tried to convince Juvia to join them when they swam but she refused. 

"You can't hide from water forever." Lucy told her. 

"I can try." Juvia said. 

"Juvia we know how scared you are of it but you can't just let fear rule your life. You're a mermaid, the sea is apart of you." 

"I never asked to be a mermaid."

"It's not as scary as you think." Erza said. "And you're in no danger of drowning, we can breathe under water." 

"I just can't do it. Why can't you two just leave me alone about this?" 

"Because we don't want you to miss out on something amazing." 

"I don't want to talk about this. If you two can't let this go then I'm going home." 

With that said she left the juice bar and headed back to her foster home. 

"I should probably get going too." Erza said. "Mom's working late so I gotta watch my sister tonight."

"Alright I'll see you tomorrow? At the beach? Same time?" 

"You know it." 

Erza was very relieved that Lucy didn't ask to see where she lived. Truth be told, Erza lived somewhere at the far end of Magnolia in a trailer with her mother and her eight year old sister. She came from a very poor background and far as long as she could remember she had always been pushed around by other people for it. 

"Wendy I'm home." She said walking into the trailer. 

"Hi Erza." The pig tailed girl greeted. 

"Did Mom already leave?" 

"About five seconds ago. She said that she won't be home til nine." 

"She must have a client who owns one of those great big expensive cars." 

"You think she'll make a lot of money off of this one?" 

"Let's hope so." Erza opened the cupboard and pulled out a frying pan. "How does a grilled cheese sandwich sound for dinner?" 

"It sounds great." 

While Erza started cooking their dinner, Wendy waited by looking through one of their mother's magazines. 

"Wow! Hey Erza take a look at this!" Wendy pointed to a page in the magazine which had a picture of a cute but expensive blue sundress that was just Wendy's size. "Isn't it pretty?" 

"Sure is." 

"I wish I could have a dress like that." 

"You'd look awfully cute in it." 

"And you would look so beautiful in this one."

She pointed to another page which displayed a gorgeous knee-length red lace dress with asymmetric cut, and suspenders. 

"Me? In a dress? Are you kidding?" 

"Don't you like it a little bit?" 

Erza would never admit but she did like the looks of that dress but it was way more expensive than the blue one Wendy looked at. She knew the neither she or her mother could afford it so she wouldn't waste her time wanting it. 

"It's nice but it's not my style." 

"Hey Erza can I ask you something?" 

"You just did." She chuckled. "But seriously what do you wanna ask?" 

"How come you don't ever go to parties or go out with your friends 

"Well for one thing I don't get invited to parties and I don't have any friends." 

"Then who are those two girls I saw you with yesterday?" 

"Have you been spying on me?" 

"I wouldn't call it spying I would call it catching glimpse of you with them while I'm helping Mom get groceries." 

"Mom knows about them too?" 

"No. She was too busy to notice. So who are they?" 

"Alright they're kind of like my friends but I don't think that we're close enough to call each other friends." 

"How close do you have to be to become friends?" 

"To tell you the truth Wendy I don't really need friends." 

"That's silly, everybody needs friends." 

"Not me. No, you and Mom are all I need." 

"Then why do you hang out with those other girls?" 

"It's a complicated matter which I can never tell you because you're too young to understand and that's end of this conversation." 

"You're just like Mom. She never tells me anything either." 

"And for good reason too. Now let's eat I'm starving." 

Back at the local foster home, Juvia was up in her room writing in her diary. She always did it when she was stressed. 

Knock-knock! 

"Mind if I come in?" Gray asked on the other side of her bedroom door. 

"Sure." 

He opened the door and sat down beside her on her bed. 

"Lucy told me about the argument you had with her and Erza." 

"Let me guess you've come to tell me that I'm wrong?" 

"Not exactly but you have to admit they do have a point." 

"Gray I'm scared. I mean it's like every time I get in the water all I can think about is that day. That awful day where my mom and dad were taken away from me forever." 

"Juvia I know how you feel, I was there remember? And I lost my parents the same way but you know I'm not scared of the water. At least not anymore." 

"What exactly is your point?" 

"My point is I lived through the same trauma as you and I was able to get passed my fears. Why can't you? You're amazing and you can do anything." 

"Just because I have these powers doesn't mean I'm amazing." 

She got from her bed, put her diary away, and went to the kitchen to get a drink. 

"I didn't mean the powers." Gray said quietly. 

In the kitchen Juvia had just started to pour herself a cup of a juice when she was startled by the sudden appearance of her little foster brother Romeo. 

"Hi Juvia!" 

"Romeo how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?" 

"Sorry I guess I'm just real excited." 

"About what?" 

"Well remember last week when you said that you would do anything I wanted if I did the dishes for you?" 

"Yes." 

"Well it's time to pay up." 

"Oh no." 

"Don't worry I'm not going to make you give me your allowance or do something demeaning like Chelia would do." 

"I'm surprised you know what the word demeaning is." 

"Hey I pay attention in school. Anyway I want you to take me to the beach." 

"What for?" 

"I wanna try surfing and that guy Natsu is giving lessons." 

"I can't." 

"You said you would do anything and you know I can't go to the beach by myself." 

"But can't you get Gray to take you?" 

"I already asked him, he says that he has too much homework. Come on please, you promised." 

He gave her the puppy dog eyes and the lip quiver which he knew she couldn't resist.

"I don't have to get in the water right?" 

"No you just have to watch me." 

"Fine." 

Romeo then changed into his swim trunks and swim shirt and they went to down to the beach. Juvia just sat on the sand and watched Natsu give the boy instructions. 

"When will I be able to get in the water?" Romeo asked. 

"Soon but right now you have to practice on land." Natsu told him. 

"Hey Natsu am I doing this right?" One other kid asked. 

"Hang on a minute I'm coming. Romeo you keep practicing here and don't go in the water." 

Natsu left to help the other kid. 

"I don't need anymore practice." Romeo decided. "I bet I could handle those waves." 

"Romeo, Natsu said not to go in the water." 

"I'll be okay." 

Romeo picked up his board at started to run out to sea. 

"Romeo come back here!" Juvia called. "I mean it Romeo if you don't come back I'm going to tell Porlyuscia!" 

But the boy ignored her and proceeded to swim out. Juvia rolled her eyes at how stubborn the boy could be. 

Romeo got on his board and started to paddle toward the first upcoming wave. He tried to stand up but the wave ended up crashing on him and he fell off his board. 

"Romeo!" Juvia screamed in terror. 

Her horror was even furthered when the board cane back up and Romeo didn't. Ignoring her fear of the water and acting on sisterly instinct, Juvia immediately ran into the sea. As soon as she turned into a mermaid she swam under at an incredible speed, grabbed Romeo, and pulled him back to the sand. He was unconscious and he wasn't breathing so she resuscitated him. 

His eyes opened and he began to cough up all the sea water he had swallowed. Relieved, Juvia hugged him. 

"Oh Romeo thank God." She said trying not cry. "You had me so scared! Don't you ever do anything like that again?! You hear me?!" 

"Juvia?" 

"Yes?" 

"I feel funny." 

He passed out again but he was still breathing. But now she had a bigger problem, she was in mermaid form and she could hear Natsu coming back. She quickly covered herself with Romeo's beach towel. 

"What happened?" Natsu asked when he saw the unconscious boy. 

"Romeo tried to surf out in the water but he fell off his board." Juvia told him. "I pulled him out and he seems alright but can you take him home?" 

"Sure but why can't you do it?" 

"Because... Because while I was getting him out a wave knocked off my top. So can you take him back while I get dressed?" 

"Oh..." He blushed. "Yeah. Alright." 

He picked up Romeo and went to take him back to the house. After catching her breath for a few minutes she came to an amazing realization. During the whole time she was under water she could breathe. Just like Lucy and Erza said and the way she swam, it was faster than any dolphin. 

"Maybe swimming isn't as scary as I thought." 

With her curiosity peeked Juvia went back into the water. She was a little scared at first but the minute she realized that she was in no danger her fear was forgotten. Before she knew it she was exploring the underwater realms of the deep sea. Observing the pretty coral and shells, she even swam with some dolphins. It was great. She finally understood what the girls were trying to tell her. 

"So you actually went in?" Lucy said when Juvia told her about the next day.

"Yep." 

"And you enjoyed it?" Erza asked. 

"Yep." 

"So that means the three of us can finally go swimming together." Lucy said. "That is if you want to Juvia." 

"I thought that you'd never ask." She smiled. 

So it was that whenever the girls had free time they would get together and go swimming in the ocean where they had the time of their lives.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucy sighed in a very melancholic way as she looked at the picture frame on her night stand containing a photograph of her deceased mother. Today was the eighth anniversary of her mother's death and it was on this very day that her father spent all day in his office with the door locked. She knew that he wouldn't come out but she still went up to his office door and gave it a knock. 

"Leave me alone." She heard him say. 

"Dad it's Lucy. Can I come in?" 

"If you must." 

She opened the door and walked inside to find him at his desk. He looked like he was finishing up on some last minute work but she knew that once she was gone he would pull out the bottle.

"What do you want?" He asked. 

"Listen Dad tomorrow is a Saturday." 

"I'm well aware of that Lucy." 

"Well I was wondering if maybe you wanted to do something tomorrow. We could go out for lunch or maybe take a walk by the beach." 

"Lucy you're much too old to have me entertain you whenever you're bored." 

"Dad it's not like that. I thought...I thought that tomorrow you might like something to cheer you up. Cheer us both up considering what today is." 

"Lucy I don't have time for your foolishness. Now leave me." 

Lucy sighed and reluctantly left her father's office. Before leaving for school she sat down and had some breakfast of cereal and toast with orange juice to drink. 

"Miss Lucy." Her house keeper Spetto said. "These were delivered to you." 

It was a boquet of tulips, daffodils, and irises. Her favorite flowers, all perfectly arranged together held by a ribbon. 

"Oh my." Lucy said. "Who sent them?" 

"The delivery man didn't say. Shall I put them in a vase with some water?" 

"Yes Spetto and thank you."

After finishing her breakfast, Lucy went to school where she met up with Erza and Juvia. 

"Hi Lucy. How are you feeling?" Juvia said hugging her, understanding what day it was. 

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." 

"How's your dad?" 

"Miserable just how he usually is on this day." 

"I'm sorry." 

"It's okay. You know this morning was pretty unusual for me." 

"How so?" Erza asked. 

"Well while I was eating breakfast the delivery man came by, someone had sent me flowers." 

"That's so sweet." Juvia said. "Who sent them?" 

"I don't know and you know what's really weird, they were all my favorite flowers. I've never told anyone what my favorite flowers are except for Dad, the staff, and you. At first I thought that you had sent them." 

"No I didn't." Juvia said. 

"Do you think that you might have a secret admirer?" Erza asked. 

"Me? No. No way." 

"Well why not?" Juvia asked. "Lucy you're a very pretty and a very nice girl. I'm sure that lots of guys like you." 

"I don't have time for a boyfriend. I have to work on my studies. Speaking of which we better get to Miss Stellar's class, you know how she is about punctuality." 

Sonya Stellar was the girl's science teacher. A brilliant woman who believed that everyone of her students had the potential to do something great. She was also very strict and would not tolerate laziness or disrespect. 

"And that class is how Sir Issac Newton discovered the moon's pull over the tides." She explained. "It's quite amazing how much the moon and the sea effect each other so much." 

"I've got two words for you lady." Laxus whispered to Jellal when she turned back to the chalkboard. "Who cares?" 

"Mr. Dreyar." Miss Stellar said. "Would you like another week of detention?" 

"No ma'am." He said surprised that she had heard him. 

"I didn't think so. One more rude comment like that and you'll have two weeks detention. Now class you will all have to do a project regarding a subject that we've learned recently. You will all have to partner up for this and I expect all partners to do there fair share of work. Your projects are due next Friday. Good luck to you." 

The bell rang and the class was dismissed. 

"So are we all going to partner up together for this project?" Erza asked.

"I guess so." Lucy said. 

"Hey Lucy, wait up." She saw Natsu walking toward her. "Glad I caught up with you." 

"Oh hi Natsu." She said. 

"Listen Lucy I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner for Miss Stellar's project?" 

"Oh well I..." She looked over at Juvia and Erza who gave her encouraging nods. "I'd love to." 

"Great. Where do you wanna meet up?" 

"How about the library? Tonight at six?" 

"I'll be there." 

He left after that. 

"Do you guys think I should've said yes?" 

"Yes." Juvia said. "This is a perfect chance for you to get close to him." 

"No I'm just doing this to be nice and for school purposes. It's not like I have a crush on him or anything. We're just good friends." 

"Sure." Erza said. "And I'm Titania the queen of the fairies." 

"Well we'll leave you to get ready to meet Natsu." Juvia said. "By the way I'd wear your peach lipgloss if I were you. Natsu loves peach." 

She and Erza giggled to each other as they walked away from the blonde. 

"You know I don't why she doesn't just tell him that she likes him." Erza said. "If he feels the same way great if not then who needs him?" 

"It's not that simple Erza." Juvia said. "You've never had a crush so you don't know how nervous your feelings can make you." 

"That's another reason why I don't crush on boys. Feelings just make things way more complicated."

Erza went to her locker and started to get some books out of it. Just then her locker door was slammed shut by Jellal. 

"Alright Erza where is it?" He asked. 

"Where's what?" She asked. 

"Don't play dumb! My wallet is missing and I know you took it." 

"Why do you think I took it?" 

"Because last week you took my spark plug." 

"Yes and that was because you and your girlfriend Minerva threw my brand new pack back into the ocean. We're even so I didn't take your wallet." 

"First of all Minerva is not my girlfriend and it was her idea to throw your back pack in the ocean." 

"Still you went along with it like the coward you are." 

"You know I could have you arrested for stealing my wallet." 

"Wow I would be really scared if I had taken it." 

"Admit it Erza, the only reason you do stuff like this is to get my attention because you like me." 

"Get real Jellal. As if I would be interested in a spoiled little rich boy who picks on other people because he has nothing better to do. Now scram! Before I forget I'm a lady and knock you right upside your head!" 

"You know Erza one of these days that spunk of yours is going to get you into real trouble." Jellal said. "You're just lucky that I don't believe in hitting girls." 

Erza seethed as she watched him leave with that smug grin on his face that he always wore. Jellal and Erza, what a pair those two were. From the minute Erza arrived to Magnolia, he would go out of his way to annoy her and think that he had gotten the last laugh only for her to get back at him one way or another. No one really knows why they get on each other's nerves. Maybe it's because he's rich and she's poor. Maybe it's because he bullies others and she feels the need to defend everyone. Maybe it's because they secretly like each other and have can't think of another way to go about it. 

"Wow Erza you and Gray are the only people I know who can stand up to Jellal like that." Juvia said. 

"Somebody has to stand their ground against him and more power to Gray for doing so." 

"Yeah but when he does stand up to him he usually ends up getting tossed into the nearest dumpster. But he tries and that's all that matters. At least to me." 

"He just needs a stronger spine." She said. "The nerve of that creep, actually thinking in his deluded mind that I like him. Oh yes I like him in a way. In a gee I can't wait to go to his funeral kind of way." 

"I know he's a jerk but sometimes I feel sorry for him." 

"Why? He has everything. Money, looks, popularity, what doesn't he have?" 

"A loving family and real friends. You know his parents have never spent any time with him. Not even when he was a kid and his friends Laxus and Minerva, they don't really like him. They only hang out with him because he's rich." 

"That doesn't justify him being a bully." 

"I didn't say that. I just said that sometimes I feel sorry for him." 

"Well I don't. If he wants real friends then he should change his attitude. I've always had a hard life but you don't see me trying to make life hard for other people do you?" 

"No and that makes you a better person than him. Besides you have what he doesn't. Real, true friends like me and Lucy and Gray." 

"You guys consider me your friend?" 

"Of course. We like you." 

Erza didn't know what to say. She had never had friends before. Not real friends who actually liked her. 

"Hmm..." She sighed. 

"What?" 

"Nothing. Hey do you wanna kick off the weekend with a swim?" 

"Sure but we have to bring Gray." 

"Why?" 

"He wants to see how fast we can swim. You know he's real interested in sea life." 

"He's not going to study us is he?"

"Um...Define study." 

"Juvia I told you this before, I refuse to be a lab rat. I will not be examined, photographed, or dissected." 

"Calm down all he wants to do is watch us swim. He doesn't have any plans to examine us or photograph us and he most certainly doesn't want to dissect us." 

"Not yet." 

"Erza." 

"He's a science geek. It's only a matter of time." 

"Erza I promise you he's only going to look." 

"That's all?"

"That's all." 

"Okay but if he starts asking for hair samples, I'll boil him like a lobster." 

"What's your deal with him?" 

"He was way too cool with us being mermaids."

"And that's a bad thing?" 

"It makes me suspicious. Like he has some ulterior motive in mind for us." 

"Erza it's not like he's a stranger. Lucy and I have known him for years. Sure he's a little unorthodox with somethings but he's really just a big sweetheart. There's no one in this world I trust more than him."

"For some reason that doesn't make me feel better about him."


	7. Chapter 7

After putting her books and journals into her bag, Lucy proceeded to go downstairs from her room and toward the front door of her house. Once outside she would head to the library to meet Natsu. 

"Just where do you think you're going young lady?" Her father asked her. 

"I'm going to the library to study with my partner. We're doing a project." 

"I see. Be back by nine Lucy." 

"Yes Dad." 

She left for the library. Natsu arrived about five minutes after she did. 

"Are you sure that you wanted to get started on our project tonight?" Natsu asked. "It doesn't bother you?" 

"No. Not at all. Why do you ask? Did you not want to work on it tonight?" 

"No it's just that I didn't think you would feel like doing it considering what today is." 

"Oh?...Oh...You remembered that today is the anniversary of my mother's death." 

"Yeah I did. I thought that you might be too upset to get started." 

"No I need something to take my mind off of how sad this date makes me feel." 

"I understand...So did you get my flowers?" 

"You sent me the flowers?" 

"Yep." 

"You totally didn't." 

"But I did. I always know how sad this day makes you feel so I thought that you might like something to cheer you up a bit."

"That's so sweet." 

"Did you like them?" 

"I loved them. They're beautiful and they're my favorite flowers. How did you know?" 

"Juvia might have mentioned it to me a couple of times." 

"Thank you. That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me." 

"You're welcome. Anything to make you happy." 

Lucy blushed and smiled. 

"We...We should probably get started on the project." 

"Right." 

After looking through various books in the library they agreed to do their project on how water freezes and melts. They made a few notes and at 8:30 they decided to call it a night. 

"So do you want to get back to the project on Monday?" Lucy asked. 

"Sure that sounds cool but uh listen I was wondering if...If you would like to go to the beach with me this weekend?" 

"You? And me? Alone? At the beach?" 

"Sure we could go fishing, play volleyball, walk on the sand, what do you say?" 

"I...I don't know. Can I think about it?" 

"Sure. You'll let me know what your decision is right?" 

"Of course." 

It's not that Lucy didn't want to go to the beach with him it was just that she was worried that it might be too risky. If she were to get wet than he and who knows how many other people would learn her secret. The next day she met up with Juvia and Erza to ask their opinion on it. 

"I think you should do it." Erza said. "You seem to like him pretty much." 

"But we'll be at the beach. What if he wants to swim?" 

"Just tell him that you have an ear infection." 

"But what if I get splashed? No I'm going to call him and tell him that I can't." 

"Lucy are you sure that you're just not scared?" Juvia asked. 

"I'm not scared, I'm just cautious." 

"No you're scared." Erza said. 

"Lucy you can't be scared of every drop of water that might hit you. You'll never have a life." 

"You really think I should go?" 

"Definitely." Juvia said. "You'd have a good time." 

"Okay. You're right. I should go but um... Could you guys do me a favor?" 

"What's that?" Erza said. 

Much later...

"She wants us to spy on her date." Erza said as she and Juvia stood behind the large rocks that were located where Lucy and Natsu were supposed to meet. 

"Not exactly spy." Juvia said. "She just wants us to stick around in case something wet happens." 

"But that's so boring. I don't want to do this." 

"You think I do? We're not doing this for enjoyment. We're doing this because we're her friends." 

"What I wanna know is, why do I have to be here?" Gray asked. 

"Because Gray you're our emergency back up in case all three of us get wet." 

"Plus spying works up an appetite and we could use you to go get us some snacks." Erza said. 

"What am I? A butler?" 

"Well actually...You do look like the butler type." 

"Oh come on!' 

"Both of you shh! Here comes Natsu." Juvia said. 

The three of them kept quiet as Natsu made his way over to Lucy. 

"Glad you could come." He told her. 

"Thanks for inviting me." She said. 

"So after we wait for the sunblock to dry, do you wanna go for a swim?" 

"No I can't. I have an ear infection so I can't get wet." 

"Oh well that's okay. We can find other fun things to do." 

For two hours the two of them smiled and laughed. Playing frisbee and playing volleyball together, Lucy was very glad that she had agreed to do this with him. 

"Don't they look cute together?" Juvia smiled. 

"Adorable." Erza said sarcastically. "Can we go now? Nothing is going to happen." 

"Uh-oh here comes trouble." Gray said. 

Just then Minerva and Laxus walked on to the beach. 

"Hi Lucy. Hi Natsu." Minerva said in her most fake sweet voice ever. 

"Oh great." Natsu groaned under his breath. "Hello Minerva, Laxus, what brings you by?" 

"Nothing. We just thought a day at the beach would be fun. Hope that's not a problem." 

"No it's not." Lucy said. "We were just about to go fishing." 

"Are you two on a date?" Laxus asked. 

"No we're just hanging out." 

"Come on Lucy let's get started before all the good fish swim away." Natsu said. 

They moved their beach chairs a little closer to the water but Lucy made sure that hers was at a spot where the water couldn't touch her. Then they each grabbed a fishing pole that Natsu brought and cast their lines. Unfortunately, Lucy had trouble casting hers out. 

"Having trouble?" Natsu chuckled after seeing Lucy become tangled in her line. 

"A little." Lucy said feeling embarrassed. 

"Here let me show you how it's done." 

Natsu helped Lucy untangle herself and moved his arms over here which made her blush. He moved the fishing pole with her and helped her cast it perfectly. 

When Minerva saw Natsu and Lucy together she felt very jealous. You see Minerva had been throwing herself at Jellal for lord knows how long but she's always turned her down which greatly confused and upset her because she was "In the popular crowd." So she didn't think it was fair that someone "In the unpopular crowd." Managed to get her crush to notice her. 

"Hey Laxus." Minerva said. 

"What?" 

"Have you noticed that Lucy is doing everything she can to avoid getting wet." 

"Yeah, Juvia probably got to her with that fear of the water she has." 

"Well it sure has gotten very hot out here. I think she could use some cooling off." 

Realizing what she was hinting at, Laxus grinned wickedly and without warning he scooped up Lucy and threw her into the nearest wave. 

"Oh no!" Juvia and Erza cried. 

"Laxus what's the matter with you?" Natsu asked angrily. 

"What? She looked like she needed a swim."

"You're such a colossal jerk Laxus!" 

Natsu then started to search the water for Lucy. 

"Oh this is not good." Gray said. 

"We have to do something before they see her." Juvia said. 

"I have an idea. Juvia throw water at Laxus." 

"Why?"

"Just do it." 

Juvia raised her hand causing a bubble of water to rise up and she threw it at the back of Laxus's head. He angrily turned to Natsu. 

"Hey!" He grabbed Natsu by the arm. 

"What?" 

"Don't play dumb Dragneel! I know you threw water at me!" 

"No I didn't."

"You calling me a liar?!"

"No. Let go of me! I have to help Lucy!" 

"I'll let you go after you apologize." 

"I'm not apologizing for something I didn't do." 

"Fine! If that's the way you want it!" 

He shoved Natsu under water but he quickly bounced back up. 

"That's it!" 

He started to wrestle him. Soon the two were in a water brawl. 

"That should keep them busy." Erza said. "Come on we gotta get Lucy." 

"Gray you stay here and cover for us." Juvia said. 

"Right." He told her. 

The girls saw an orange fish tail swimming near the other side of the beach. Juvia quickly grabbed one of the towels Lucy had brought and went with Erza to the other side. There they found Lucy washed ashore. Luckily no one was around. 

"Are you okay?" Juvia asked covering Lucy with the towel.

"No one saw me if that's what you mean." She sighed. "Can't believe Laxus just threw me into the water." 

"I can." Juvia said remembering when he and Jellal threw her into Minerva's pool last week. 

"I'd be willing to bet he did it because Minerva told him too. He and Jellal are basically her puppets." Erza said. 

"Of all the things Minerva and Laxus could ruin for me it had to be this." Lucy sighed. "And Natsu and I were having such a wonderful time." 

"I'm sorry Lucy." Juvia said. 

"You should freeze Laxus and Minerva's behinds for this." Erza said. 

"No. No I won't stoop to their level. Just dry me off so I can go home." 

Erza steam dried Lucy's tail which caused her to grow her legs back. She stood up and sadly walked back home. 

"This is just terrible and everything was going so well." Juvia said. 

"Yeah well Lucy might be too mature to stoop to their level but I'm not." Erza said cracking her knuckles. 

"What are you going to do?" 

"Don't worry I won't hurt them." 

"Erza I really don't think-" 

"Now you just make sure that Lucy gets home alright." 

"Okay but please don't do anything you'll regret." 

"Trust me I'm not going to regret this. Not at all." 

Being as quiet as a mouse and as discreet as a bat, Erza followed Laxus and Minerva to the park. They were standing by a stand that was selling bottled drinks. She proceeded to heat up the juice and sodas inside the bottles making them boil and simmer until at last they explode out of their bottles and fell all over Laxus and Minerva. Covering them in sticky, sugary liquid that ruined a brand new outfit Minerva was wearing. 

"You idiot! What did you do?!" She screamed at Laxus. 

"Me?! I didn't do anything?!" 

"This outfit cost me three hundred dollars! You are so paying for this!" 

"No way! I didn't do this!" 

Erza laughed to herself as she watched them bicker. 

"Erza!" She was startled to see Natsu running her way. She hoped that he hadn't of seen what she did. "Hey Erza do you know where Lucy is? We were at the beach when Laxus threw her into the ocean and she just disappeared." 

"She's okay. She went home." 

"That's a relief. Listen I really need to talk to her. Could you tell her to call me?" 

"I think that can be arranged." Erza said with an approving smile. 

"Great." He looked over to see Laxus and Minerva dripping in juice and soda. "What happened to them?" 

"That my pink haired friend is called karma." The red head chuckled.


	8. Chapter 8

Recently Gray had become more and more curious about how the girls became mermaids so he asked to be taken to Tendrou Island. Erza and Juvia were busy so Lucy decided to take him. 

"So this is the place that turned you three into fish." Gray said once inside the volcano where the moon pool was. 

"Mermaids Gray." Lucy corrected. "We're only half fish." 

"That's what I meant. You know I gotta tell you that this place is amazing. I can't believe that I'm actually inside of a volcano." 

"It is pretty neat." 

"And you said that you all were in this pool when you transformed." 

"Yep." 

"Interesting." Gray sat by the edge of the pool and ran a hand through the water. It was very blue but it seemed like regular water. "You think that anything would happen to me if I got in it?" 

"I don't think so. It happened to us at night and it's day time now." 

Gray took off his shirt and put on his goggles, he then jumped into the pool. Swimming around, he searched to see if there was anything unusual down there that would explain how and why this happened. But all he found was sand. No wait, there was something else down there. Something shiny. 

He swam closer down, picked it up, and swam back to the surface of the pool. What he had found was a silver, circle shaped locket with a matching silver chain and a small sapphire embedded in it. 

"What's that?" Lucy asked. 

"I found it at the bottom of the pool. Recognize it?" 

"No. I've never seen it before but it looks antique and it's really pretty." 

"Antique huh...I think I'll keep this for research. If there's no connection then I'll just sell it. I could use some money." 

"If you're short on cash why don't you get a job like Juvia did?" 

"Juvia has a job?" 

"She's working at my dad's marine park. She's feeding the marine mammals." 

"Isn't that a little risky? What if she gets splashed?" 

"That's what I thought but she said she found a way to avoid that possiblity." 

At the marine park Juvia had dressed herself in an apron, wore rubber gloves, and used tongs to hold the wet fish that she would feed the dolphins. The dolphins took an almost immediate liking Juvia and they always did tricks for her whenever she came to feed them. 

"Well Miss Lockser." Said her employer Jura Neekis. "I wasn't sure about hiring you due to your young age but I now see that I made the right choice." 

"Really?" 

"Yes you're hard working, always on time, and the dolphins love you. I think you'll be working with us for a very long time." 

"That's good to hear sir." 

"Keep up the good work." 

"I will." 

When she was on her lunch break Gray came to visit her. 

"Any wet related accidents?" He asked her before biting into a carmade frank. 

"Nope. I've got everything under control." She said. "How was your trip to Tendrou Island? Did you find anything unusual?" 

"No. Just regular sand, rocks, and water." 

"Well you're a smart guy Gray, I know you'll find something." She assured him. 

"I guess but you know I did find something interesting." 

"What?" 

"A little present I got for you." 

"What? What is it? You know I hate it when you make me guess." 

He held up the locket he had found. 

"Oh it's beautiful." She said with a surprised smile. "Where did you find it?" 

"At the bottom of that pool on Tendrou Island. Do you like it?" 

"I love it. But do you really want to give it to me?" 

"Why not? The stone matches your eyes." 

"You're so sweet. Would you put it on me?" 

"Sure." 

She lifted her hair up and Gray fashioned the locket around her neck. Juvia opened up the locket but there was no picture inside. 

"Thank you Gray. I'll never take it off." 

"Miss Lockser!" Jura called. "Five more minutes til your lunch break ends." 

"Alright Mr. Neekis." She called back. "I have to get back to work Gray. See you when I get home." 

For the rest of the day Juvia had a pretty simple work schedule. She just had to give the dolphins, the seals, and the orcas their final meal for the day and clean up in the feeding room. She had just finished when she spotted a woman in the dolphin section, bending over and trying to pet them however that section wasn't supposed to be open right now. 

"Excuse me ma'am." She said walking toward her. "But you can't be here right now." 

The woman stood up and turned to face Juvia. She was blonde and she looked like she was in her mid thirties. She kind of looked like Lucy except older. When she saw Juvia she gave her, her warmest smile. 

"I'm terribly sorry." She said. "I just love dolphins, they're so sweet and playful. They're pretty much like underwater dogs." 

"They are pretty friendly." 

"Yes and I'm sure they're especially fond of you." 

"Because I bring them food right?" 

"That's part of the reason but mostly it is because a girl with your special abilities has an affinity with them." 

"What do you mean a girl with my special abilities?"

"I think you know." She said with a wink. Her eyes then spotted the locket Juvia was wearing. Her fingers went to touch the pendent. "You found it. After all these years I thought it was lost forever." 

"Is this yours?" 

"No my dear but it did belong to someone I knew very well once, someone who you remind me so much of." 

"I'm sorry but do I know you?" 

"No but I know a lot about you Juvia. You know your name is quite fitting for what you are." 

"Wait a minute how do you know my name?" 

"Miss Lockser!" Jura called causing Juvia to turn her attention to him. "Did you finish cleaning the area?" 

"Yes sir." 

"Alright then you can clock out for today." 

"Thank you sir." 

But when Juvia turned back toward the woman she saw that she was gone. Who was that woman? And how did she know her name? But more importantly did she know that Juvia was a mermaid? 

"She was so strange." Juvia told her friends ater that day. "She said that I didn't know her but she knew me." 

"Any chance you've seen her before?" Erza asked. 

"No and I think she might know that I'm a mermaid. I'm not sure but the way she talked-" 

"Hang on did she say that she knew you were a mermaid?" 

"No but I have a feeling about that woman." 

"Do you know her name?" 

"No but she knew mine." 

"How?" Lucy said. 

"I don't know. Funny thing is she kind of looks like you." 

"Me?" 

"If you were in your thirties." 

"That's just weird." 

"She seemed very interested in this." She showed the girls the locket.

"That's the locket Gray found at Tendrou Island." Lucy said. "How did you get it?" 

"He gave it to me." 

"Did the locket belong to that woman?" Erza said. 

"No but she said that it belonged to someone she knew. Someone that I reminded her of." 

"Who?" Lucy asked.

"She didn't say." 

"This woman sounds a little creepy." Erza said. "Do you think she could be dangerous?" 

"She was odd but I didn't get any danger vibes from her." Juvia said. 

"If you ever see her again try to get a name okay?" Lucy said. 

Just then Juvia's phone beeped, she checked the message. 

"I have to get home. Gray and I are watching the kids again. See you guys tomorrow." 

She left Lucy's bedroom and headed home. 

"So Gray gave Juvia the locket he found?" Lucy said. "Strange, he told me that he was going to sell it." 

"Did he?" Erza said. 

"I've never known Gray to give up an opportunity to make money. I wonder why he did that?" 

"I have a theory." 

"What?" 

"Now I haven't known them as long as you have and I could be wrong, I'm just going by what I see but I think he likes her." 

"What? What gave you that idea?" 

"Hmm let's see: follows her everywhere, jumps at nearly every opportunity to help her, blushes each time his hand accidentally touches hers, and oh yes. He gave her jewelry. That pretty much seals the deal." 

"Now that I think about it he might actually have a little crush on her." 

"Yeah but I can just tell he's one of those guys who will never confess how they feel. Speaking of crushes yours has been asking about you." 

"Natsu?" 

"No Laxus, of course Natsu. He wants you to call him but you haven't. What's the deal? Don't you like him anymore?" 

"I do but the thing is after what happened at the beach I don't think that I should have a relationship with him. At least not until I get this mermaid thing under control." 

"If that's the way you want it. But you better tell him that without giving away our secret because he keeps asking me to get you to talk to him." 

"I'll talk to him." Poor Lucy didn't want to do this but she couldn't risk him finding out her secret. At least until she learned how to hide her tail better. 

"So did you and science boy find anything on Tendrou Island that explains why this happened to us?" 

"No. Gray analyzed the sand, the rocks, and the water but he couldn't find anything. They're all just regular sand, rocks, and water. Nothing unusual or paranormal about them. But I know for a fact that pool had something to do with all this." 

"What are you and Gray going to do now?" 

"Well you could help us." 

"I could but I have more important things to do." 

"Like what?" 

"Um how about helping out my mom and my sister? We can't afford a babysitter so when Mom has to work late I have to watch Wendy. I also have to help with the cooking and cleaning. I don't have time for his science expedition."

"You don't like him do you?" 

"I wouldn't say that. Right now I don't know what to think of him. I don't weather to like him or to dislike him." 

"Well you like Juvia right?" 

"Yes." 

"Funfact about Juvia, she and Gray are a total package. If you want to be friends with her then you have to be friends with him too." 

"Why? What does she see in him?" 

"Hey he's a nice guy." 

"I guess. He just seems too nice. I don't know, does he really want to help us or is he up to something?" 

"Believe it or not, Gray would do anything to help Juvia and anyone she cares about. He has no ulterior motive. You just need to give him a chance." 

"Alright I'll give the geek a chance." 

"Good. You'll see, he's one of the best friends anyone could ask for."


	9. Chapter 9

As the weeks passed the girls learned to keep their secret better and how to avoid getting wet in front of people. These actions would lead them to acting a little strange sometimes but it never rose suspicion from anyone. Well... Almost anyone. Three people were getting suspicious. 

The younger foster children Romeo and Chelia and Erza's younger sister Wendy. This being because they were around the girls more than the adults. They noticed their strange behaviors and their unusual avoidance of water but while Romeo and Wendy didn't put so much thought into it, Chelia couldn't help but be a snoop. 

One morning when Juvia was gone, Chelia sneaked through her things where she found Juvia's diary. Inside were plenty of writing and illustration about Juvia being a mermaid. Luckily Juvia always wrote in cursive which Chelia always had a difficult time reading. 

"What does this mean?" Chelia complained. "Why can't she write like a normal person?" 

"Hey Chelia." Romeo said walking by. "Romeo can you read cursive?" 

"No why?" 

"Ugh! Because that's Juvia's writing style and I can't understand anything she's written in her diary." 

"You're reading her diary? Chelia you know you're not supposed to do that. Juvia's going to kill you." 

"Not if she doesn't find out." 

"I'll tell her." 

"You do that and I'll tell Gray what really wiped out his hard drive. Not some random virus like he thought but you messing with his laptop." 

"You can't tell him that. Gray told me that if he ever caught me messing with his stuff he'd steal my allowance and give me a wedgie."

"Then you keep quiet about my business and I'll keep quiet about yours." 

Later at school Chelia found out that Wendy was taking calligraphy so she had to be able to read cursive. After classes she went up to her and introduced herself. 

"Hi Wendy." She said with a bright smile. 

"Hi...Do I know you?" Wendy asked confused.

"No. Not really but I have heard of you. Your big sister Erza is friends with Juvia who lives with me in foster care and she's mentioned you a lot." 

"Oh. Okay. Funny Erza has never mentioned you." 

"Well she and I aren't that close. Listen Wendy you take calligraphy right?" 

"Yes?" 

"So you can read cursive right?" 

"Of course." 

"Then you can read this." She handed the diary to Wendy. "It's Juvia's diary and she only writes in cursive which I can't read but you can." 

"I'm not reading someone's diary. It's private." 

"You don't understand Wendy I'm not doing this to violate her privacy. I'm doing this to make sure that she's okay. She's been acting really weird lately and I'm worried." 

"Can't you just ask her about it?" 

"She'll only lie to me and besides this will also benefit you." 

"Me? How?" 

"Well you have to admit your sister has been acting a little strange hasn't she." 

"She has been acting a little differently but I don't follow." 

"If we can figure out what's going on with Juvia then maybe we can figure out what's going on with her two friends Erza and Lucy. You want to know what's bothering Erza don't you?" 

"Yes but this feels wrong and Erza always says that I should respect other people's privacy." 

"But what if she's in trouble?" 

"What kind of trouble?" 

"Well you guys are poor and you don't have a lot... Sometimes poor people can get a little... Desperate." 

"Are you accusing my sister of being a thief?" 

"No but does she's seem nervous when you ask her questions about where she's been and what she's been doing?" 

"Not all the time but yes." 

"Does she ever just suddenly leave without an explanation?" 

"Yes." 

"When you ask her such questions does she either lie or just say it's none of your business?" 

"Yes. But that doesn't prove she's a thief." 

"But that does prove that she's hiding something. Something that she, Lucy, and Juvia doesn't want us to know about." 

"But we don't know if it's anything bad and I know Erza she would never do anything that could get her into big trouble." 

"Didn't she once deface a picture of Minerva Orland when it was hung up on the wall to signify her as student of the week?" 

"Okay she wouldn't do anything illegal like steal." 

"How do you know? For all you know, they could be in a gang of thugs who rob people. Or maybe some freaky cult where they worship fish." 

"What?" 

"There are a lot of drawings of fish in her diary, I had a few theories." 

"You sound crazy but...You might have a point." 

"So you'll help me translate the diary?" 

"No but I will talk to Erza about what's going on and I suggest that you do the same with Juvia instead of going through her personal belongings." 

Wendy gave the diary back to Chelia and went outside to wait for Erza to pick her up from school. As she waited she decided to get some of her homework done. Just then a breeze blew by and it caused her work sheet to fly away. 

"Hey come back!" 

She ran after the flying sheet, desperately trying to catch it. It landed in the middle of the highway and the light was green. She had just ran out into the street to grab the paper when a truck turned in her direction. It was just about to hit her when a pair of arms grabbed Wendy and pulled her on to the sidewalk, out of harm's way.

"Are you alright kid?" It was Jellal. "What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!" 

"I'm sorry." She said trembling a little. "I just wanted to get my paper." 

"Forget the paper! What about your life?! You're lucky I was here! Where are your parents?" 

"I was waiting at the school for my sister to pick me up." 

Jellal checked his watch.

"I got an hour to kill, I think I'll wait with ya until she comes." 

"You don't have to do that?" 

"I beg to differ. Wouldn't want you going out into on coming traffic again." 

"Okay." 

So the two of them walked back to the school together. 

"Do you think my teacher my will understand about me losing my homework?" She asked.

"I don't see why not and if she doesn't I'll vouch for you." 

By the time they had arrived back at the school Erza was already there and she looked scared out of her mind. When she saw Wendy, she gave a breath of relief. 

"Where have you been?!" She asked. "I was worried sick! I told you that you are to never leave the waiting area until I get here!" 

"I'm sorry Erza. The wind blew away my paper and I tried to catch it." 

"Yes and she became dangerously close to becoming road kill." Jellal said. 

"What are you doing here Jellal?" Erza asked getting irritated. 

"Relax Erza for once I did you a favor." 

"I find that hard to believe." 

"It's true." Wendy said. "I ran into the street and he saved me from getting hit by a truck." 

"You were almost hit by a truck?! Are you okay?!" 

"I'm fine. Really. But before we go can I ask my teacher for another homework sheet." 

"Fine but come straight back." 

"I will." Before leaving she turned to Jellal and said. "Thank you for saving me Jellal." 

"No trouble at all. Hope to see you again." 

Just like that she was gone. 

"I haven't heard a thank you from you yet Erza." He grinned. 

She sighed in frustration.

"Thank you for saving my sister." 

"You're welcome." 

"Now why did you do it?" 

"Oh really Erza, you don't honestly think that I would be so heartless as to let a little girl get hit by a truck, do you?" 

"I know your girlfriend would." 

"Again she's not my girlfriend. Why do people think that? Anyway between you and me, I actually have a soft spot for kids even if they are related to you." 

"I don't know weather to be impressed or insulted but I will say this. You're not as much as a jerk as I thought you were." 

"I do believe that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me and may I say that your sister is absolutely adorable." 

"Thank you and I bet she thinks that you're a real hero. Then again she doesn't know about all the nasty stuff you've done to me and other people." 

"True but doesn't today prove to you that there's a lot more to me than you thought before?" 

"Since when do you care what I think of you?" 

"I don't." 

"Then why are you still taking to me? Don't you have somewhere you have to be?" 

"As a matter of fact I do." He said looking smug again. "See you around Erza." 

She gnashed her teeth together as she watched him leave. 

"Oooo!" She sneered. "That rude, slimy, smug son of-" 

"Who are you talking to Erza?" Wendy asked returning. 

"No one Wendy. Let's just go home." 

"I like that Jellal guy. He seems nice." 

"Yes he SEEMS nice. He's a really good actor isn't he?" 

"I don't understand. Isn't he nice?" 

"Oh yeah he's nice. Nice like a parasite."

"You don't like him?" 

"He and I don't exactly get along Wendy." 

"Really?" 

"If you knew him then you would understand better. He's not exactly a knight in shining armor. I mean he likes to tease and bully other people. Namely me but I always get back at him." 

"Why does he bully you?" 

"Because he's an arrogant, self entitled, jerk." 

"Huh...But he's cute." 

"Cute?" 

"Uh-huh."

"I never really paid any attention to his looks."

"But you have to admit he is a little cute." 

"He's not ugly, I'll give him that and he did save you so he's not that horrible." 

"You know Mom says when boys tease girls it's because he likes her." 

"Yeah right. Why would he be interested in me when he has the pretty and perfect Minerva?" 

"Honestly I don't think she's pretty at all and I think you're much prettier than her." 

"Thanks Wendy." Erza chuckled. "Come on let's go home before Mom notices how late we are." 

"Okay...Listen Erza when we get back I wanna talk to you about something." 

"Alright. We'll talk after dinner."


	10. Chapter 10

After dinner when Wendy decided to talk to Erza.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Erza asked. 

"Is everything okay?" 

"Everything's fine. Why do you ask?" 

"Because you've been acting very different lately and it's making me worried." 

"You don't need to be worried Wendy." 

"Are you sure? Because if you're in some kind of trouble, you know you can tell me right?" 

"Wendy you forget that I'm the big sister and you're the little sister. That means it's my job to worry about you not the other way around." 

"But Erza-" 

"Relax Wendy. You just focus on doing well in school and everything will be fine." 

But Wendy wasn't convinced. Erza had never kept secrets from her before and it made her a little scared. She didn't like the idea of reading someone else's diary but she wanted to make absolutely sure that Erza wasn't in some kind of trouble. So the next day she called up Chelia and agreed to meet with her at the foster home. 

"I don't like this Chelia." Romeo said. 

"Just keep quiet and watch out for Juvia or Gray." She said. 

The doorbell rang. 

"That's probably Wendy." 

She went to the door with Romeo falling. 

"I don't want to be apart of this anymore Chelia, find yourself another watchdog." 

She opened the door and Wendy walked in. 

"Hello Wendy." Chelia greeted. "The diary is right upstairs." 

"Okay but I'm only doing this to make sure that nothing bad is happening to Erza." Wendy said. 

"That's the translator?" Romeo asked watching Wendy go upstairs. 

"Yes. That's Wendy. She takes calligraphy so she should be able to read cursive and she happens to be the sister of that Erza chick, Juvia is friends with." 

"Hubba, hubba, where has she been all my life?" 

"Close your mouth Romeo before you catch flies." Chelia said rolling her eyes and pulling him upstairs. Wendy silently read the diary and she felt very guilty about doing this. 

"She sure has a lot written down." Wendy said. 

"Isn't anything embarrassing?" Chelia asked. 

"No and if there was I wouldn't tell you. We're not doing this to humiliate Juvia, you know?" 

"Oh right! I know that...I just want to find out what's bothering her that's all, right Romeo?" 

Romeo didn't answer. He was too busy staring at Wendy with a lovestruck grin. 

"You know you have really shiny hair." He said to Wendy. 

"Um...Thank you. It's all in the shampoo." She said feeling a little weirded out. 

She continued to read the diary, finding nothing peculiar until she reached a section in the diary that made her feel very concerned and confused. 

"Well this can't be right." Wendy said. 

"What? What is it?" Chelia said.

"Maybe I'm reading this wrong." 

"What? What does it say?" 

"If I didn't know any better I'd say that according to this, Juvia is a mermaid." 

"What? That's crazy." Romeo said. 

"There must be some mistake I'm sure." Wendy said.

"Maybe not." Chelia said. "That would explain she's so desperate to avoid getting wet. If she touches water, she'll grow a tail." 

"Tell me that you don't actually believe this." Wendy said. 

"Of course Juvia avoids water Chelia, she's scared of it. You know what happened to her parents." Romeo said. 

"But she's not the only one. Lucy is avoiding water now too. She used to love swimming in the pool and in the ocean but suddenly she just stops swimming. That is when no one is around and judging by these drawings of the blonde and red head, I have reason to believe that Lucy and Erza are mermaids too." 

"You're crazy." Wendy said. "My sister is not a fish." 

"She's half fish." 

"She is not. This is insane. Tell her Romeo." 

"Chelia I think you're going way too far with this and there's no way...." He started to trail off as a memory came back to him. 

"Romeo what is it?" Chelia asked. 

"Well you know how last week I almost drowned while trying to surf? And Juvia pulled me out?" 

"Yeah. You were out cold." 

"Well I did briefly regain consciousness and I might have been hallucinating when I saw this. In fact I'm pretty sure that I was hallucinating." 

"What exactly did you see?" 

"I thought that I saw Juvia with a purple tail." 

"I knew it!" Chelia said. 

"Again it was probably a hallucination." 

"If she wasn't a mermaid why would she jump into the sea to save you even though she's scared of the water." 

"Because she loves me and doesn't want me to drown." 

"Face it pal she's a freak and so are the other two and you know it. We should expose them." 

"Can't we just talk to them? Ur always said that you should solve conflict with communication." 

"Communication is for humans and they are not humans. They're evil and dangerous and they have to be stopped." 

"That's it! I've had enough!" Wendy said. "I only went along with this to find out if my sister was okay, not crucify her as some monster. I'm going home. I'm sorry I ever did this." 

"Do you mind if I walk you home?" Romeo asked. 

"That's sweet but no thank you, besides my mother doesn't like boys." 

"Oh...Okay...So I'll see you around?" 

"Sure." 

She left after that. 

"Who needs her?" Chelia said. "You know I'm right, don't you Romeo?" 

"I'm not a hundred percent convinced." He said. 

"Then I guess we should keep an eye on the girls so you might see something that will convince you better." 

"You mean spy? Chelia we'll get into so much trouble." 

"Just do this with me and if we don't find anything then I'll let it go." 

"You promise?" 

"Promise." 

"Alright." 

"Great. So here's the plan, you spy on Juvia and I'll spy on Lucy." 

"Where is Juvia?" 

"Last I heard she had gone fishing with Gray." 

Indeed, at the moment Gray was at the docks trying to catch a decent fish. But swimming under the docks was Juvia, searching the ocean floor for seashells. Recently she and her friends had been spending a lot of time at the cave at Tendrou Island, soon it had become their own personal hang out but Juvia thought that it looked a little dark and needed something to brighten it up. So she started collecting sea shells and other things that she could use to decorate the cave.

"Are you sure that you should be swimming around here?" Gray asked her when she came back up to surface. "What if someone sees?" 

"Don't worry, I'm being extra careful." She assured. "And look I found a conch shell. Isn't it pretty? I'm sure that I can make that cave much more nice than it is." 

"Looks like you're having better luck than I am. I haven't caught a bite all day." 

"Gee I'm sorry. What don't you take a break from fishing and have a swim?" 

"No thanks." 

"Are you sure? You're looking a little red. Oh no! Gray you didn't forget to put on sunblock again did you?" 

"No I didn't forget." 

"So you purposely chose not to put on sun block in a hundred degree weather?" 

"Ye...Yes." 

"No offence Gray but that makes you sound dumb. Much dumber than just forgetting to put on sunblock. Now you're burning up. Come in the water, you need to cool off." 

"I told you I'm fine."

Juvia rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. Then an idea came to her. 

"Alright if that's the way you want it."

She went back under water, a few minutes later Gray felt something tug on his fishing line. He pulled but whatever was on the other end of the line pulled back and it was very strong. Stronger than he expected any fish to be. 

"Wow! This one must be huge!" Gray said as he struggled to reel it in. But during his struggle he lost his balance on the dock edge and fell right into the water. Swimming up to the surface he found Juvia waiting for him, giggling and hold the end of his fishing line where the hook was. 

"Juvia!" He said in irritation. 

"It was for your own good." She said. "You were practically roasting." 

She giggled again. 

"Oh you think this is funny?" He said. 

"A little." She admitted. 

"Yeah? Well take this!" 

He smacked the ocean surface hard, splashing her in the process. Though surprised she responded with a playful smile and made a large bubble rise from the sea. She then sent it flying into Gray's face. 

"Alright if that's how you wanna play!" 

The two started their own splashing war while laughing at how childish they were being. From a distance, Romeo heard them and went down to the docks. 

"I win." Juvia said. 

"What do you mean you win?" Gray asked. 

"I made the biggest splash." 

"That's not fair! You can control water and I can't." 

"All is fair in love and war. Uh-oh!" 

"What is it?" 

"Romeo's coming." 

She quickly dove underwater just before the boy could see her. 

"Hi Romeo." Gray said trying to act casual while internally praying that Juvia wouldn't be seen. 

"Gray why are you in the water?" Romeo asked. "I thought you were going fishing." 

"I was but I got hot and I needed to cool off." 

"With your shirt on?" 

"Uh...It's a very slimming shirt." 

"Who were you talking too?" 

"No one. It's just me. I'm the only one out here." 

"I thought Juvia was with you." 

"She went home." 

"No she didn't. I was just there." 

"Oh...Then she must be over at Lucy's then." 

"Okay." He said not entirely convinced that Gray was telling the truth. "Hey Gray can I ask you something?" 

"What is it?" 

"What if someone you knew, someone you cared about wasn't human?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean what if someone...Say Juvia was some sort of supernatural creature, would you expose her to the world?" 

"What?! No! Wait why would you think that Juvia was done supernatural creature?" 

"I don't. This just hypothetical."

"Well honestly no. I wouldn't expose her because human or not she's still my best friend. Besides do you have any idea what the world would do if a supernatural creature was exposed to it?" 

"No. Not really." 

"Well typically the government would take it away, lock it up, and dissect it! Now tell me do you want that to happen to Juvia?... Hypothetically speaking that is." 

"No. Never. I didn't think about that. Listen I gotta go. Bye!" 

He ran away as fast as he could. Once he was gone Juvia came back to the surface.

"What was that about?" She asked. 

"I don't know but I think that Romeo might know your secret." 


	11. Chapter 11

Lucy was at the beach sun tanning on a towel by the sand. Watching her was Chelia, waiting for Lucy to go into the ocean and get wet, exposing her tail. After an hour of waiting, she saw Lucy stand up, check to see if anyone was around, and walk toward the ocean. Her foot was just about to make contact with the sea water when Lucy's cellphone rang. She went back to her towel and took out her phone from her beach bag. 

"Hello?" She answered the phone. "Oh hi Erza what's up?...Wendy? What did she tell you?....They did what?! Are you sure? Okay I'll be right over!"

Lucy hung up her phone and immediately went to meet Erza, Juvia, and Gray at her house. Chelia tried to follow her but Lucy, sensing that she was being followed managed to give her the slipping through a crowd of people.

"Where did she go?" Chelia wondered. 

"Chelia!" Romeo called following after her. "Chelia! Wait!"

"Romeo what are you doing here? Did you get anything on Juvia?"

"No I couldn't find her but I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About this whole mermaid thing."

"Yopu don't believe me?"

"Right now I don't know waht to believe but I have to tell you that you've over looked something."

"What?"

"If Juvia and her friends are mermaids, should we really expose them?"

"What do you mean? Of course we have to. Otherwise no one will believe us."

"But have you thought about what'll happen if you expose them? They could be taken away or locked up or worse."

"They're not human Romeo."

"You don't know that for sure and even if they weren't, we've known Juvia and Lucy forever. They're family and they've always looked out for us. Human or not, can you really do something that might end up with the two of them getting hurt? After all they've done for us?"

It wasn't until now that Chelia realized what she was really doing. She had known both Juvia and Lucy since she was four years old, they were like sisters to her and even though she didn't really know Erza she knew how much Wendy loved her. She also remembered watching movies about science ficition and modern fantasy, how once those paranormal creatures were exposed to the world the government did horrible things to them. If her theory about the girls being mermaids turned out to be true and she exposed them then she would be putting them in danger.

"You're right Romeo." She said feeling instant guilt. "I wasn't thinking about that."

"So are you going to give up on this?" 

"I still wanna know if they're mermaids or not but I won't tell anyone."

Back at Lucy's house, it turns out Juvia and Gray suspected that Romeo knew their secret so they called up Erza. Wendy overheard their conversation on the phone and she decided to confess to what she, Romeo, and Chelia were up to. That was when she called Lucy telling her everything.

"How could you keep a diary about our secret?" Lucy asked Juvia.

"I'm sorry but this whole mermiad thing is very stressful and I have no one to talk to about it. I need some outlet for my emotions."

"You can always tell me." Gray said.

"Gray you never want to listen to my feelings. Every time I've tried to tell you how I feel about something you always make up some excuse on why you can't listen to me at the moment."

"Oh yeah...Sorry about that."

"Well right now we need to find some way to get the kids off our trail." Erza said. "Wendy is convinced that she read your diary wrong and that there's no way we could be mermaids but I think Romeo and Chelia are convinced."

Juvia thought for a moment. What could she tell the kids to convince them that she, Erza, and Lucy weren't mermiads. Then she remebered a project that she had done in her literature class a year ago. She figured that it would be the perfect excuse for what she had drawn and written in her diary.

"I know just what to tell them." Juvia said.

"You do?" 

"Yes I just hope that they'll believe me. In the mean time we should probably lay low for awhile. In other words let's not go swimming for at least a few days."

"Agreed." Erza and Lucy said. 

Later that day when Romeo and Chelia came home later that evening, Juvia and Gray confronted them on what they did. 

"I can't believe you two read my diary." Juvia scolded. 

"Technically she read it, I didn't." Romeo said.

"Chelia I've told you a million times to stay out of my private business but you never listen."

"Well you can't blame for being curious, you're always keeping secrets." She defended. 

"She has a right to keep her own private secrets you little snoop." Gray said.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it again but I just want to know one thing."

"What?" Juvia asked.

"Are you a mermaid?"

"What?!" Juvia said acting surprised. "No? Why would you think that?"

"Well in your diary-"

"Chelia it's not what you think. It's a school project for my literature class, we had to rewrite classic fairy tales. I chose the little mermaid."

"Oh...Well what about Lucy and Erza? Are they mermaids too?"

"Of course not! How on earth could we have become mermaids? That doesn't make any sense. Besides you know how scared of the water I am, there'a no way I could be a mermaid."

"I feel so stupid."

"Good maybe next time you'll think twice before sticking your nose where it doesn't belong and you Romeo, I thought you knew better."

"I didn't want to do it."

"But you did it anyway."

"She made me do it! She blackmailed me! She threatened to squeal about Gray's laptop!"

"What about my laptop?!" Gray asked.

"Uh-oh." Romeo said upon realizing that he had just given himself away.

"You little runt! I knew it was you who wiped out my hard drive! That's it! It's wedgie time!" 

"No please! Have mercy! I'm just a child!" Romeo pleaded fearfully. 

"Gray I really don't think that's neccessary." Juvia said. "Let's just tell Porlyusica what they did."

"No way! Not this time! I told the little weasel not to touch my laptop or I would take his allowance and he would be getting a wedgie unlike any that had ever been known."

Gray picked up the scared boy.

"Gray put him down." Juvia said.

"No. He's had this coming for a long time."

"Gray put him down or I show everyone in school those pictures of you trying on Porlyusica's make up when you were six."

Wait you did what?" Romeo said.

Gray blushed and quickly did as Juvia. 

"I knew I should have burned those pictures." He grumbled.

"Now let's go talk to Porlyusica." Juvia said. 

"Fine but I'm still taking his allowance."

"For how long?" Romeo said.

"Until I have enough to pay for a replacement hard drive!"

"Aww man!"

They told Porlyuscia and the two were punished by cleaning the entire house tomorrow and not being allowed to go anywhere except school for all of next week. But Chelia and Romeo weren't the only ones who would be scolded by their actions. Wendy was greatly reprimanded by Erza.

"I'm disappointed in you Wendy." Erza said. "How could you violate Juvia's privacy like that? You were raised better than that."

"I know I shouldn't have done it Erza and I'm sorry I did it. I just wanted to find out what's wrong with you."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"Then why do you keep so many secrets? Why do you go out and never tell us where you're going? I was scared Erza. I was scared that you had gotten into some trouble."

"Wendy." She sighed. She understood her younger sister's concern and she wanted to tell her everything just to ease her worries but she couldn't. It was just her who had been transformed into a mermaid then maybe she could tell her but it wasn't just her secret. It was Lucy and Juvia's too and she couldn't just betray them. "Wendy you're heart was in the right place and I can understand your concern for me but you should never ever pry into someone's private life. Nothing excuses that."

"I know."

"I promise you that I'm not in any trouble."

"You're doing anything wrong? Like stealing?"

"Come on Wendy you know me better than that. I'd strave before I ever stole anything."

"And you're not in a cult?"

"Do you even know what a cult is?"

"I know it's bad."

"No I'm not in a cult. Please, Mom would have to be sedated if she ever found out I was into something like that."

So if you're not into anyh trouble and if you're not doing anything wrong then why won't you tell me anything? Why all the secrets?"

"Because sometimes it's a good that you don't know everything. Ignorance is bliss as they say."

"I don't understand."

"Let me put it to you this way, you trust me don't you Wendy?"

"Of course I do."

"Can you trust me enough to understand that if I won't tell you something it's for your own good?"

"I...I suppose I can."

"Good now can we please forget about this?"

"Alright but can you answer me this? Will you ever tell me this great big secret of yours?"

Erza sighed again and thought long and hard about her answer. 

"Maybe someday. It all to depends on how well you can keep a secret." Erza said with a wink. "So what should you be punished with?"

"Punished?"

"Yes because what you did can't go unpunished. I think that tomorrow I should bring you over to apologize to Juvia and you can help Romeo and Chelia clean their very large house 

"You don't have to make me apologize, I planned to do that anyway but do I really have to help them clean the house. I didn't tell anyone what I read and I didn't even want to read it."

"But you still did it didn't you?"

"Yes." Wendy sighed in shame.

"How about this, either you take my punishment or I tell Mom what you did and she can decided your punishment?"

Wendy gulped after that.

"On second thought home cleaning does provide a few good benefits if you think about it. It gives you excersise and excellent working skills."

"My thoughts exactly."

So the next day Wendy to apologized to Juvia for reading her diary and she forgave her. After that she, Chelia, and Romeo cleaned the whole house from top to bottom.

"I really am sorry about what I did Juvia." Wendy said as she mopped the floors.

"I forgive you Wendy. I'm just relieved that you didn't read my most embarrassing secret." Juvia said as she wrote in her diary.

"What? What is it?" Chelia asked as she dusted the windows.

"Trust me Chelia you'll never know." 

Juvia let out a giggle before glancing down at the page she was doodling on. This one was a picture of a heart with the words: _Juvia Loves Gray Always._ Inside of of it. She closed her diary, put it in her drawer which she locked, and hid the key in her fish tank. 

"Hey Juvia." Gray said. "Wanna go to the jucie bar for a smoothie?"

"I would love to." She said with a smile.


	12. Chapter 12

Lucy's father was having a business meeting at his house with some of his associates and fellow business men including Jellal's father. Lucy was not unfamiliar with her father's home meetings but she didn't like them because it always meant that she had to spend all night in her room. 

"Why can't he just let you stay over at my house when he has these meetings?" Juvia said as she and Erza talked to Lucy about her dilemma. "He used to do it all the time when we were little." 

"That was before Mom died. Dad hasn't let me spent the night anywhere since she passed. He's terrified that something will happen to me." 

"Overprotective much?" Erza said. 

"In that case maybe we could come over?" Juvia suggested. 

"I don't know if Dad would allow it." 

"Why don't you ask him? I'm sure he'll be fine with it. He's a very nice guy."

"Juvia quick question when was the last time you saw my dad?" 

"I guess it was at your mother's funeral." 

"That's what I thought. Dad's changed, he's not how he used to be. He's become very strict lately and he hardly ever let's me do anything fun anymore." 

"At least he cares." Erza said. 

"I know he cares but it's like he doesn't want me to have a life. Sometimes I feel smothered by him." 

"I know that feeling, my mom can get a little too clingy sometimes." 

"But I guess he won't mind me having the sleepover. If it'll keep me in the house and away from his associates." 

"It can't hurt to ask right?" 

"I guess not. Okay I'll ask him. I'll let you guys know what his answer is before it gets dark." 

"Okay we'll catch up with you later." The girls waved to Lucy before she headed home.

"I hope her father says yes. It's been too long since Lucy and I have had a sleepover." Juvia said. "We would have so much fun. We would stay up late, eat so much junk food, watch movies, have pillow fights, makeovers, it was the best." 

"Sounds like it."

"Here let me show you. Ur video taped one of our slumber parties." 

Juvia grabbed a video tape off of the book shelf and stuck it in the vhs player. On tv was a seven year old Lucy and Juvia wearing adult women's dresses, high heels, jewelry, and make up. The two of them were looking into the camera. 

"Aww you guys are cute." Erza said.

"Is it on?" The younger Juvia asked. 

"Yes sweetie it's on." Said a voice from an unseen person. 

"Who's running the camera?" Erza asked. 

"That's Ur." Juvia said. 

"Great." The younger Lucy said. "Hello people of the world. I'm Lucy Heartfilia." 

"And I'm Juvia Lockser." 

"And this is our karaoke video. We hope that one day this video will be seen by a producer who will make us rich and famous." 

"You two could sing?" Erza asked. 

"Well..." The older Juvia said. "Lucy is very talented at many things. Swimming, running, fashion, organization, dancing but not so much at singing." 

"So she stinks?" 

"I wouldn't say that." 

"Hit it Juvia!" The younger Lucy said in the video while holding a microphone. The music played and she sang in a voice that made Erza's ears hurt. 

"Yeah she stinks." Erza said. 

"So Lucy what do you wanna be when you grow up?" Ur asked the little blonde girl. 

"I wanna be a famous swimmer like my mommy." 

"That's so neat and what do you wanna be you grow up?" She asked the little blue haired girl. 

"That's easy! Someday I wanna be Mrs. Gray Fullbuster." 

Juvia blushed and Erza burst out laughing. 

"Mrs. Gray Fullbuster?" Erza chuckled. 

"I...I might've had a little crush on him back then." Juvia said feeling embarrassed. 

"Oh really? Did you ever act on it?" 

"I don't recall."

"I don't wanna marry you Juvia!" A seven year old Gray was shown on the TV trying to break away from a seven year Juvia who was hugging him. 

"Why not? You said that you loved me." Her younger self said. 

"Not like that! Ur don't just stand there! Help me!" 

"But you two look so adorable." They heard Ur say. "Juvia why don't you give him a kiss on the cheek?" 

"Don't you dare!" The boy said but the girl just pecked a little kiss right on his right cheek. "Ewww! Girl germs! Get em off me!" 

This made Erza laugh even harder. 

"Alright so I acted on it once or twice." Juvia said her blush deepening. 

"I didn't know that Gray was apart of your sleepovers." 

"He would play with us at her house sometimes but he never stayed overnight. Usually Ur and him would go home once it got late." 

"I guess he didn't like those slumber parties as much as you two did." 

"Oh he hated them because Lucy and I would try to get him to play dress up with us." 

"Oh I would love to see that. Got any tapes of him in a dress?" 

"Yes but I promised Gray that I wouldn't show them to anyone." 

"No fair." 

"But all in all it was so much fun. Those sleepovers were some of the happiest moments of my childhood." 

"It really looks like you and Lucy had a great time together. Wish I knew the joys and excitement of a sleepover." 

"You've never been to a sleepover?" 

"I didn't have many friends as a child. In fact I didn't have any friends at all. The other kids didn't really like me." 

"That's awful." 

"Not really. I mean I don't really need any friends." 

"Everybody needs friends Erza and you now have friends. Also I've come to the official conclusion that we have to have this sleepover tonight." 

"We do?" 

"Yes. Every girl needs to experience a sleepover with friends. It's like a rite if passage." 

"A rite of passage? Seriously?" 

"Alright maybe it's not like that but it's a must have in a girl's life. That's what Ur always told me." 

"I don't even know if I want to go to a sleepover. Are they really that fun? I mean I'm sure it is fun for you and Lucy but it seems a little too girly for me. I mean dress up, make up, I really don't think that-" 

"You know we also like to bake cupcakes at these sleepovers." 

"Cupcakes? Can they be strawberry?" 

"Yes." 

"I'm in." 

"Great. So do you have some cute pajamas to wear tonight?" 

"Uh...Does an old t shirt and sweat pants count?" 

"Not really Erza. Here why don't we go shopping for a new pair?" 

"Good idea but I don't think I have enough money." 

"I'll pay." 

"You don't have to." 

"But I want to. I'm sure that twenty bucks should do it." Juvia said handing Erza a twenty dollar bill from her purse. 

"Thank you." 

"Anything for a friend." 

After that Juvia took Erza shopping for some pajamas to wear at the sleepover. Juvia was waiting outside the store while Erza was at the check out area when she was approached by that same mysterious blonde woman she had met at the marine park the other day. 

"I've come to warn you." She said. 

"Warn me about what?" Juvia asked. 

"Listen carefully, it's very important. Tonight the moon is going to be full. Don't look at the full moon or it's reflection, it's dangerous. And don't touch water when the moon is out whatever you do." 

"Why?" Juvia asked. "What's so dangerous about the full moon?" 

"I don't have much time to explain it to you but I will say this. There are dark sides to what you are just like how they are light sides to what you are and the full moon has the ability to bring out the darkness in you." 

"Darkness? In me? You're kind of scaring me." 

"Good because if you're scared then that means you'll listen." 

"Okay." Juvia said getting creeped out. "I think I should go now. My friend is probably almost done." 

"Friend? You have friends? Oh my, are there three of you?" 

"Yes. How did you know?" 

"Nevermind that just tell them what I told you. Please." 

"I don't understand. What's this about? And who are you?" 

"I'm a friend. A friend who only wants to help so please believe me when I tell you this." 

The way she spoke made a chill go up Juvia's spine. 

"Juvia what do you think of these pajamas I bought?" 

She turned to see Erza walking toward her with a bag of her new pajamas. When Juvia turned back the woman was gone. 

"Are you okay?" Erza asked seeing how nervous Juvia looked. 

"I saw her again." 

"Who?" 

"That blonde woman I met at the marine park. The one who took an interest in my locket. She talked to me again." 

"What did she say?" 

"She was trying to warn me. She told me not to look at the full moon tonight and not to touch water while the moon was out." 

"Why?" 

"She didn't say and she told me to tell you and Lucy." 

"She knows about us?" 

"Not exactly but once she found out that I had two friends she told me to deliver the same warning to you two. What she said really scared me." 

"She's probably just confused." 

"She knows my name. I'm telling you Erza there's something about her that's odd." 

"Are you even sure that you've actually seen this woman?" 

"Are you saying I'm crazy?" 

"No but sometimes people will imagine things." 

"I didn't imagine her Erza she was there. She's real." 

"What's her name?" 

"I asked her but she won't tell me. She's more secretive than we are and I'm pretty sure that she knows something about us." 

"You mean she knows that we're mermaids?" 

"I think so. I'm not sure but I know that she knows something." 

"If she did know our secret do you think that she would tell anyone?" 

"Honestly I don't think she would. I mean I don't know who she is but I have a feeling that she wants to help us." 

"If she wants to help us then why won't she tell us who she is?" 

"I don't know. I really don't know."


	13. Chapter 13

"Come on Dad, we'll stay upstairs the whole time." Lucy said, pleading with her father to let Erza and Juvia stay the night. 

"Lucy I don't want two wild teenage girls in my house during one of my meetings." Jude said. 

"Dad you know Juvia, she's not wild at all and Erza is very mature. I don't want to spend the whole night alone in my bedroom, can't you let me do anything fun?" 

Jude sighed before answering. 

"It's just those two coming? No one else?" 

"Yes." 

"And you will stay upstairs?" 

"Yes sir." 

"Alright they can come over." 

"Thank you Dad. I promise that you won't regret this." 

She called up Juvia and Erza, telling them the good news. They arrived at her house at exactly six o'clock with sleeping bags and pajamas. 

"I'm so glad that my dad let me do this." Lucy said. "I've really missed our sleep overs Juvia." 

"Me too." Juvia smiled when she said that but her face looked unsure of something. 

"Everything okay?" Lucy asked.

"She's just a little upset because she ran into that woman again." Erza said.

"The one who was so interested in your locket?"

"Yes." Juvia answered. "She gave me a warning. She said that we shouldn't look at the full moon." 

"Juvia we're mermaids not werewolves." Erza said. "Next time you see that woman I think you should just get away from her. She sounds crazy to me." 

"Let's just forget about this and focus on having a fun night." Lucy said. "We can start with pedicures." 

"Oh no." Erza said. 

"I'll get the nail polish." 

Lucy left her bedroom to grab some nail polish from the bathroom. One of the bottles fell out of the medicine cabinet and spilled into the sink. 

"Oh great!" She said. 

She turned on the water to wash the polish down the drain before before it stuck to the sink. She glanced toward the window of the bathroom and looked directly at the full moon which had risen into the night sky. Suddenly she became transfixed by the moon, she couldn't tear her gaze away from it. Then she found herself becoming very drawn in the water flowing from the faucet. She reached her hand out and waved her fingers all through the water. 

"What's taking Lucy so long?" Erza said. 

"Maybe she's having a hard time finding it." Juvia said. "This is a pretty big house." 

"Hi guys." Lucy said coming back into the room. 

"Where's the nail polish?" Juvia asked. 

"Oh we didn't have any." 

"Since when do you not have nail polish?" Erza said. "You're like a cosmetics saleswoman." 

"We just don't have any. Why don't we have something to eat? I'm starving." 

"Good idea." Erza said. "Let's order a pizza." 

"And while we wait for it to come we can make strawberry cupcakes for dessert." Juvia said. 

"Oh boy!" Erza cried with the excitement of a little child in her eyes. 

"On the way here I bought the strawberries and the cream we could use for the frosting." 

"Actually I have a craving for raw fish." Lucy said. 

"Raw fish?" Juvia and Erza said.

"Yes. Preferably sardines. We have plenty of them in the kitchen. I better hurry downstairs and get some before Dad's associates get here." 

She quickly headed downstairs leaving her friends in great confusion. They followed her soon afterward and saw her scarfing down as many sardines as she could. 

"Does she normally do this at sleepovers?" Erza asked. 

"No. In fact last I checked she wouldn't even eat sushi." Juvia said. "Lucy are you feeling alright?" 

"I'm fine. I'm just hungry." She said. "So very hungry." 

She was eating them like she was a savage beast who hadn't of eaten a decent meal in years. It was repulsive. 

"Lucy do you need a napkin?" Erza asked. 

"No but I could use another can of sardines." The blonde said emptying out the last one into her mouth. "I need more." 

"More? But you've gone through six cans." 

"Lucy I think you've had enough. Why don't we get changed into our pajamas and put on some music?" Juvia suggested. 

"I have a better idea, let's go swimming." 

"This late?" Erza asked. 

"Why not?" 

"Because you're not allowed to leave the house after dark. It's one of your dad's rules." Juvia said. 

"So? I don't care." 

"Since when? You've always been a stickler for the rules." 

"You really need to lighten up. Come on let's sneak out through the window and climb down the roof. That way my dad can't see us." 

"Lucy by any chance did you hit your head on something?" Erza said. 

"She's probably just tired." Juvia whispered to Erza. "You know how hard she pushes herself in school." 

"Seems to me that the stress has finally made her snap." 

"Let's just get her to bed and put a movie in, that should calm her down." 

They left Lucy to change in her bedroom while they changed in the middle bathroom which didn't have any windows and the walk through closet. 

"I've never seen so many shoes in my life." Erza said. "Geez, I'm lucky that I can afford one pair of shoes." 

With their pajamas on, the girls went back to Lucy's room but her window was wide open. 

"Oh my gosh she actually did it!" Erza said looking out the window. 

"What in the world has gotten into her?" Juvia asked. 

"We better find her before her dad notices she's gone." 

"Hold on we're gonna need wheels." Juvia pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number. "Hello Gray, listen I need to come over here...No! We're not going to pin you down and give you a forced makeover like last time." 

"You did what to him?" Erza said. 

"We were eight." Juvia defended. "Gray it's an emergency, Lucy's run off...We don't know where, we're going to find her but we need a car right now... It's not a joke, why would I joke about something like this? Gray you need to come, something is very wrong with Lucy and we think that she might end up blowing our secret...Thank you, now hurry." 

She hung up. Juvia and Erza quickly put on their shoes and jackets. 

"Gray's on his way." Juvia said. "We better meet him outside." 

"Hold it we can't go out through the door." Erza said. "Her dad will see us and he'll wanna know what we're doing." 

"He might not notice us. He is in a meeting right now." 

"We can't take that risk. We'll have to go out the same way Lucy did." 

"You mean climb down from the roof?" Juvia said looking down. 

"Sure."

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" 

"There's nothing to it. I've done it plenty of times. It's how I escaped this one party I went to that got way out of control. By the way you definitely don't want to know about that fiasco." 

"But I haven't done this before Erza. What if I slip? What if I fall? I could break my neck." 

"Just watch me." 

Erza climbed out the window and carefully went down to the edge of the roof. She then jumped from the roof, landing on the tree that was nearby, and climbed down from there. 

"See? It's easy." 

"I beg to differ." 

"Come on Juvia we don't have time for this. We have to find Lucy before she gets into some trouble." 

"Hey guys I'm here!" Gray said running toward Erza. "I parked my car a little ways back so that her dad wouldn't see me, what's going on?" 

"We'll explain the details in the car that is if Juvia would just man up and come down." Erza said. 

"I can't man up Erza! I'm a woman!" Juvia said. 

"Then woman up!" 

"Why are you climbing out the window?" Gray asked. 

"So Mr. Heartfilia won't notice us." Erza said. 

"Can't I just try to sneak downstairs?" Juvia asked. 

"Juvia just climb down to the edge and jump, I'll catch you." Gray said. 

"Promise?" 

"Promise." 

"Okay." 

She nervously went out the window and slowly went down to the roof's edge. 

"Here I go." 

She jumped and Gray caught her but he ended falling down to the ground in the process. 

"Thanks Gray." She said. 

"You're welcome." He groaned. "And ow!" 

"Oh sorry Gray. I didn't break anything did I?" 

"Oh no. No. You're much too light to break anything." 

"Alright love birds break it up!" Erza said. "We got a very confused blonde to find." 

They got into Gray's car and started to search for Lucy. 

"Do you guys have any idea where she went?" Gray asked. 

"No and it isn't like her to just up and run off." Juvia said. 

"She said that she wanted to go swimming." Erza said. "Do you think that she might have gone to the beach or the pool?" 

"We'll check both places." Gray said. 

They searched the beach but they didn't see her anywhere however they did find her shoes by the shore. 

"Well we know that she's in the ocean but where?" Erza said. 

The full moon came out and when the girls saw it they became just as transfixed as Lucy was when she saw it earlier. 

"Juvia?" Gray said when he saw their blank stares. "Erza? Hello? Earth to Juvia and Erza?" 

He snapped his fingers, waved his hand in front of their faces, finally he moved his hand to snap Erza out of it but a cloud covered the moon which brought the girls back to their senses. 

"That would be a mistake." Erza said grabbing Gray's arm. 

"I'm sorry but you two just zoned out a minute ago. What's wrong with you?" 

"This is what that woman was trying to warn us about." Juvia realized. 

"What woman?" 

"I met this woman who said that we shouldn't look at the full moon or touch water when it's out. I think that's what happened to Lucy and that's why she's acting so strange." 

"So did this woman mention what would happen if you did any of this." 

"No." 

"Uh guys." Erza said. "I've got good news and I've got bad news. The good news is I found Lucy the bad news is I think I figured out the answer to Gray's question." 

She pointed over to where Lucy had come up to the surface in her mermaid form. But she wasn't the same. Her orange scales had turned white and the scales had appeared on the skin, her hands became webbed, her nails had turned into black claws, her neck had sprouted a set of gills, her hair was now green, and her eyes were yellow. 

"Lucy?" Juvia and Erza whispered in horror.


	14. Chapter 14

The three teenagers looked on in horror as their friend Lucy, who had now become some frightening creature devoured a fish that she had caught with her bear hands.

"Gray." Juvia whispered as she gently grasped his arm. "I'm scared."

"That's okay. I'm scared too." He said.

"Lucy?" Erza said with caution. "Is that you?"

The creature looked at them in a way that made them go stiff. She smiled at them like there was absolutely nothing wrong.

"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" She said.

"What happened to you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Have you seen yourself?"

"Yes and I think that I look great."

"Do you see yourself as we see you?" Gray asked.

"Lucy you need to get out of the water right now." Juvia said.

"Why? It feels great. You all should come in."

"No thank you."

"Gray pull her out." Erza said.

"What? Why me?" Gray asked.

"Because if we get wet then we'll end up just like her. Do you want that to happen?"

"Okay you have a point there."

Gray grabbed hold of Lucy and started to pull her out, Juvia used her powers to make the water push Lucy out. Erza used her powers to steam the water on Lucy's body and dry her off.

"I'm starving." Lucy said. "I need food."

"You're still hungry?" Erza said.

"Let me back in the sea so I can catch fish for myself."

"No way are we letting you get back in the water." Gray said.

"As soon as you get your legs back we're taking you home." Juvia said.

"But I don't want to go home." Lucy whined. "I want to swim out to Tendrou Island."

"Not happening." Erza said.

Once Lucy was in her human form they made her get into Gray's car so he could drive them back to her house. But Lucy was determined to return to the sea so she froze the car battery which prevented the vehicle from starting up.

"Why isn't the car moving?" Erza asked.

"I don't know." Gray said. "I'll check under the hood."

"I'll help you. I have some experiences in machinery. Juvia you stay here and watch Lucy."

"Right." Juvia said.

Gray and Erza grabbed a flashlight then went outside to fix the car. Gray lifted up the hood and used a nearby stick to hold it up while Erza held the flashlight.

"Let me out Juvia." Lucy pleaded. "Please."

"No. I'm sorry Lucy but this is for your own good." She said.

"But the sea is calling me."

"You just need to calm down."

But Lucy wouldn't stop. She froze the stick holding the car hood up as intensely as she could which made the stick snap and the hood fall on top of Gray, she then froze the hood's edges of the car to keep him there at least for awhile.

"Gray!" Juvia screamed.

Erza immediately tried to lift the hood up.

"Get this thing off of me!" Gray shouted.

"I'm trying! But it's stuck!" Erza said.

Juvia ran out of the car and went to help Erza. With those three distracted, Lucy was able to slip out of the car and walk back to the beach.

"What's wrong with this thing? Why won't it budge?!" Juvia said.

"I don't know." Erza said. Then she saw the ice on the car edges. "Oh no! Lucy sealed the edge with ice!"

The girls love looked to see that the car was now completely empty.

"She's gone!" Juvia said.

"She did this as a diversion so she could run off." Erza realized.

"What do we do?"

"Hello! I'm still trapped under here!" Gray shouted.

"Sorry." Erza said. "Juvia you find Lucy, I'll get Gray out from under there."

Juvia ran back to the beach to search for Lucy while making sure that she didn't look at the moon. Erza stayed behind to melt the ice, holding the car hood. Lucy had gone off to the far end of the beach, ready to jump right back into the water when she spotted Natsu walking back from a late night surf.

"Natsu." She called with a flirty smile. "Over here Natsu."

"Lucy?" He said. "What are you doing out here this late?"

"Just taking a moon light stroll on the beach." She giggled and started to walk toward him. "You know I just feel terrible about leaving our date without even a goodbye to you."

"You do? I mean you're not mad at me? I wouldn't blame you if you were because it was a pretty lousy date."

"But that wasn't your fault."

"So you're not mad?"

"Not at all. I never was."

"Then why won't you talk to me? I try to call you and talk to you in school but you avoid me."

"That's not because I'm mad, it's because I'm embarrassed."

"Embarrassed?"

"Embarrassed by myself. I acted so silly and I thought that I would only act stupid again if I was ever around you. But I still feel awful about not saying goodbye. Let me make it up to you."

"How?" Natsu asked.

"Come closer."

He hesitated for a moment but did as she requested.

"Closer." She urged. "Closer."

He continued to come closer to her until she pulled him into a kiss. He was taken by surprise but he didn't break away and the next thing he knew they were making out. He couldn't believe she was actually kissing him and that she was letting him kiss her. He wasn't complaining about this mind you but after their catastrophic date, he figured that she didn't like him in that manner. Who knows how long it would have lasted if Juvia hadn't of walked in on them.

"Stop right there!" Juvia called.

"Busted." Natsu said pulling away from Lucy.

"What are you two doing?" Juvia asked.

"Nothing. Just kissing." Lucy giggled.

"Lucy we need to go now. If your Dad finds you gone he'll have a conniption."

"Let him have his conniption. I don't care."

"Lucy that's not like you." Natsu said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"No." Juvia said. "She's sick, she has a fever which is why we have to get her home now."

"We?"

"Erza, Gray, and I."

"Natsu would you like to swim with me to Tendrou Island?" Lucy asked. "It's very beautiful and romantic at night."

"No. You're going home." Juvia said.

"Do you girls need help getting back?"

"No thank you. Have a good night Natsu."

"Good night ladies."

"Good night Natsu." Lucy smiled.

Natsu left and he was the only thing keeping Lucy on land because as soon as he was gone Lucy jumped into the sea.

"Oh no you don't!"

Juvia manipulated the water to bring Lucy right back to the shore. By the time she did that, Erza and Gray had caught up with them. While Erza once again used her powers to dry Lucy off, Juvia tended to Gray's head which had been bumped by his car hood.

"How's your head Gray?" Juvia asked.

"It's got a bruise but I'll survive." He whispered back. "I swear if Lucy was a guy I would-"

"Gray it's not her fault."

"I guess..." He grumbled.

"Guys she won't change back." Erza said. "She should be dry by now but nothing's happening. Why isn't she changing back?"

"I don't know." Juvia said. "This is bad. This is very bad. What if she never changes back?"

"There's always the circus." Gray said earning him a glare from Juvia and Erza.

"Well one thing is for sure, we can't bring Lucy home like this." Erza said. "Which means we can't leave until she turns back."

"Great." Gray said sarcastically. "In that case we better get comfortable."

They ended up staying at the beach all night long and they fell asleep. In the morning when the moon set, Lucy finally turned back into a human. Erza woke up first and she was relieved to see that Lucy had her legs back. She also saw that Gray and Juvia were sleeping next to each other with their arms linked to each other.

"Oh this is just too cute." Erza pulled out her phone and took a picture of them.

Lucy woke up.

"What am I doing here?" She asked.

"You don't remember?" Erza asked.

"Remember what? The last thing I remember was going to the bathroom to get the nail polish. When did we go to the beach?" She glanced over to where Gray and Juvia were. "Uh what exactly happened last night?"

"It's not what it looks like, trust me." Erza said. "We'll explain what happened on the way back."

They woke up Gray and Juvia then went back to his car. The ice on his motor had melted so they were able to start the car.

"Oh my stomach hurts." Lucy said. "I feel like I ate a whole buffet."

"Try six cans of sardines and a whole flounder." Erza said.

"A whole what?!"

"You were pretty hungry for fish last night." Juvia said. "Especially raw fish."

"Oh I think I'm going to be sick."

When they got back to her house, her father was very angry.

"Where were you?!" He asked her angrily. "I was up all night worrying about you!"

"I'm sorry Dad." Lucy said. "Something happened and I...I just wasn't feeling like myself. I guess it's a teenage thing."

"You weren't out fooling around with some boy were you?"

"No! Absolutely not! I just went to the beach to clear my head. I guess I've been so stressed by school and everything lately."

"I see."

It was a long a conversation but Lucy ended up only being grounded for a few days instead of a month as she feared.

"So how did things go with your dad?" Juvia asked when they all met up at the juice bar in the afternoon.

"He freaked but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I never want to go through another night like that again."

"Neither do we." Gray said.

"The worst part about all this is I don't remember anything that I did."

"It's probably best that you don't know." Erza said.

"Did I do anything else really bizarre?"

"I don't think so." Juvia said.

"Hey Lucy." Natsu said waving to her.

"Hello Natsu, what brings you by?"

"I just wanted to thank you for last night."

"Last night?" She questioned before taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah and by the way you have the world's best lips."

Lucy spat out her drink in the shock.

"See you around." He said before leaving with his surf board.

"Lips?" Lucy said turning to Juvia and Erza who were struggling not to laugh. "My lips? What's he talking about? Guys! What did he mean by that?!"


	15. Chapter 15

Ring-ring!

"I got it!" Juvia said picking up the house phone. "Hello? Oh hi Ur, how are you?...Really?...Oh that's wonderful! They'll be so excited! Yes I'll tell them! Goodbye!" 

She hung up and quickly went to tell everyone in the house the wonderful news. Ur was coming back from her trip and when the other foster children heard the news they were very excited. She then met up with Erza and Lucy at Tendrou Island to tell them. 

It was the perfect hang out for the three mermaid turned girls. There they would swim with dolphins, climb the trees, collect shells, surf the waves, and occasionally have swimming races. But what they did most of the time during their visit to the island was meet in the moon pool at the center of the dormant volcano and talk about things together. Things like family, friends, school, crushes, problems, ect. All in all it was their own private sanctuary where they could share each other's secrets without anyone finding out. 

"Glad to hear that Ur is coming home. When is she supposed to be back?" Lucy asked. 

"Next week, we can hardly wait." Juvia said. "She's been gone for so long and when she comes back we're going to cook a big dinner for her. Also I think that I'm going get her gift." 

"What kind of a gift?" 

"Not sure yet." Juvia thought for a moment then she came up with an idea. "I know she's always taking pictures but she has trouble finding a place for all her photos so I'll get her a scrapbook kit."

"That's not a bad idea." Lucy said. 

"If she's the photography type why not get her a new camera?" Erza suggested.

"That's what Gray wants to do. There's this brand new camera that's coming out and he thinks that it would be a perfect gift for her unfortunately it's very expensive and he's never had much luck when it comes to money."

"Here's an idea, why doesn't he just get a job? What is he a lazy bum?"

"He is not. As a matter of fact he's recently started applying for work at several places including the juice bar. He's just waiting for a callback. He's very smart and hardworking so he's bound to be hired by someone. He really wants to get Ur that new camera." 

"Ur sure does mean a lot to you two." 

"Well after we lost our parents she became the closest thing we had to a mother. She loved all of us like we were her own children." 

"Did she ever think about having any of her own?" 

"Actually she had a daughter once but she and Ur were in a car accident years ago, the poor thing was killed in the crash and Ur was injured so badly that she had to have an emergency hysterectomy. She could never have anymore children." 

"That's terrible. You never told me about that." Lucy said. 

"You never asked about Ur's past." 

"What happened to her husband?" Lucy asked. "That is...Did she ever marry?" 

"She married but he abandoned her after she got pregnant. He didn't want kids. After her daughter died she was all alone until she decided to open a foster home. She felt that the best way to ease her pain was to give orphan kids like me a home until they were adopted. Funny thing is Gray and I were never adopted." 

"Wasn't Gray almost adopted once?" 

"Yes. When we were kids a couple from Clover town wanted to adopt him but shortly after they arrived to pick him up they just changed their minds. Right out of the blew." 

"Really? How come?" 

"I don't know. I asked Gray once or twice, he said that after talking with hin the couple decided that he was too much trouble for them to handle." 

"Well what did they expect?" Erza asked. "A child who would never cause trouble? That's impossible." 

"I guess they weren't ready to be parents or something like that." 

Little did Juvia realize that what Gray had told her was a lie. The real reason why he wasn't adopted by that couple was a secret that he planned to take to his grave and Juvia was the last person he would ever tell it to. 

"You know after Mom died I kind of wanted to live with you guys." Lucy said. 

"Why?" Juvia wondered. 

"Because Dad pretty much ignored me after we lost Mom and you and Gray always looked so happy in Ur's care. Sometimes that I wished that I was an orphan." 

"Lucy you should never wish for that. You're very lucky that you still have your dad. I know he's not easy and that he makes things difficult for you but that's only because he loves you so much." 

"And you should be grateful that he does. Some dads never love their children." Erza mumbled while swishing her tail through the water. 

"I know he loves me I just wish that he wouldn't be so overprotective." Lucy sighed. "He treats me like I'm a defenseless little girl. I just wish that he would let me be more independent." 

"Did you ever think to tell him that?" Erza asked. 

"No point, he wouldn't listen. He never listens to me. It's like he doesn't care about what I have to say." 

"Still you should at least try." Juvia said. "I'm sure the sooner or later he'll hear you." 

"I hope so." 

Just then they heard a beeping noise coming from Erza's bag. It was a reminder that she had set up on her phone. 

"I have to get going." Erza said. "Miss Stellar gave me some extra credit to do after school and I really need this credit. Especially since I didn't do so well on my last test, I haven't had much time to study lately. " 

"Alright so we'll see you later?" Lucy asked. 

"Yeah. I'll see you around." 

With that said Erza swam back to Magnolia and went to the school for the extra credit assignment Miss Stellar had given her. Apparently the assignment was to help some younger students with their homework. Now Erza was a very smart student but due to her chores and now her secret life as a mermaid she had a very hard time keeping up with her school work. Now Sonya Stellar didn't like it when her students didn't get their work done but she understood that Erza didn't do it out of laziness, she knew about Erza's home life and that she had a lot of responsibilities so she helped her out by giving her extra credit assignments whenever she could. 

"Thanks again for this Miss Stellar." Erza said. "I really need this." 

"Think nothing of it Erza. You're one of my best students and I know how hard you work to support your mother and your sister." 

"Do you give extra credit like this to all your students who struggle?" 

"Of course but you're the only one who actually tries to earn the credit. You wouldn't believe how many times Minerva has tried to bribe me into giving her a passing grade." 

"No way. She does not actually try to do that." 

"She does." 

"She's unbelievable. I garuntee that she's going to get held back next year."

"Nevertheless I will still do everything I can to help her succeed as I do with all my students. Speaking of which, Erza you're friends with Jellal right?" 

"Friends? Ha! That's a laugh. No we're not friends, far from that." 

"Oh..."

"Why do you ask?" 

"It's just that something seems to be troubling Jellal lately and I assumed that you were a friend of his because I saw you with him the other day. I was hoping that you would be able to tell me what's bothering him." 

"Little rich boy has troubles? There's a shocker." 

"Everyone has troubles Erza, rich or not." 

"As far as I know the only trouble Jellal has is that he's a great big jerk to everyone around him. But if you really want to figure out what's going on with him should talk to Minerva. She's his girlfriend." 

"Really? I didn't think he liked her all that much." 

"Seriously? I mean she's always with him. Clinging to his arm and kissing him, she can't keep her claws off him. It's disgusting

"If I didn't know any better Erza I'd say that you were jealous." Sonya said with a teasing smile. 

"What?! Yeah right! I'd have to like Jellal to be jealous of Minerva." 

"And you don't like him?" 

"No I don't." 

"Hmm..." Sonya said as she started to organize the books on her shelf. "That's too bad." 

"Why do you say that?" 

"Because he likes you." 

"What?" 

"It's true he does." 

"Did he tell you that?" 

"Not in words." 

"What does that mean?" 

"I was a teenager once and if there's one thing I've learned during those rough and very emotional years of teen hood is that boys never say how they feel." 

"I don't understand what you mean by that." 

"You will. Eventually you'll learn how to tell how a boy feels without him telling you." 

Erza didn't have the slightest idea of what Sonya was saying but in time she would. Sonya really liked Erza, not just because she was a good student but also because she was a hard worker and that she tended to remind her of herself when she was a teenager. She wasn't always this calm, collected, and responsible. In her youth she was very carefree, laid-back, and a bit of a thrill seeker but times had changed. She wasn't a teenager anymore, she was an adult and growing up made her have to let go of a lot things in her youth. Things that she really missed and hated to have given up. 

"Are you alright Miss Stellar?" Erza asked her teacher when she went silent for a moment. "You seemed to have zoned out." 

"Yes I'm fine. I was just thinking about old memories. Silly of me." She giggled. "Would you mind helping me take down some of these books?" 

"Sure."


	16. Chapter 16

Meanwhile Gray was trying to look for someway to make enough money for the camera he wanted to buy for Ur. Unfortunately there were no jobs available at the moment, at least no jobs available that would pay him the amount of money. 

"Hey Gray." Called Natsu who was coming back from surfing.

"Oh hey Natsu."

"What are you doing today?" 

"I'm trying to earn some money and fast."

"What's the hurry?"

"Well my foster mother Ur is coming back from a trip and I've decided to get her a welcome home present. I want to get her a new camera but new cameras cost big bucks."

"No kidding. Why not get a job?"

"Because Ur will be here next week and no available jobs will pay me enough money to buy the camera in time. I don't know what to do."

"Why don't you try the juice bar? They're always looking for hired help and they pay well."

"Alright I'll ask. Thanks Natsu."

"No problem dude. Hey um before you go can I ask something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Gray you hang out with Juvia and her friends a lot right?"

"Yes."

"And Lucy is a friend of Juvia right?"

"Last I checked she was."

"So that means you're around Lucy alot right?"

"I guess but I wouldn't say that we're close. Why do you ask?"

"Well I was wondering if maybe you could tell me if something's bothering her."

"Why do you think that something might be bothering her?"

"Because after our disastrous date she told me that she wasn't ready for a relationship, that she had too much to deal with right now and I respected that but then the other night she kissed me. And I mean she really kissed me so now I'm confused. Is she interested in me or not?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Come on Gray do you actually think that she would tell me what's really going on with her?"

"No. No I don't."

"I understand if Lucy doesn't want to have a relationship with me but I want to know for sure if that's the case."

"Like I said Lucy and I aren't that close. I wish I could tell you but I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Gray you were there when Lucy was acting so differently that night. I think you know what's going on with her."

"There's nothing to tell. I don't know anything and even if I did it's not really my place to tell you her secrets."

"So you do know something?"

"I never said that."

"You know what I don't understand is why she's always with you and why she trusts you with her secrets unless...Are you two dating?"

"No! No way!"

"Then why does she trust you with her secrets and not me."

"She hasn't trusted me with anything. As far as I know, she's just a good friend who's keeps secrets from me just like she keeps secrets from you."

"Fine but you would tell me if you two were dating right?"

"Yes I would but I'm not dating her. She's not even my type and I would never date my best friend's crush."

"Alright. I'm sorry."

"So you believe me?"

"Yes I believe you."

"Good now if you'll excuse me I have to get some cash."

Gray really did want to tell Natsu about Lucy but he had promised the girls that he would never reveal any secret they had to anyone and when he made a promise he always kept it no matter what. Once he finished his conversation with Natsu he went down to the juice bar to ask about a job there but the manager explained that he already had enough hired help. But Jellal happened to over hear Gray's talk with the manager.

"Hey Gray." Jellal greeted.

"Hey what?" Gray replied feeling annoyed that he was talking to him.

"I hear that you need money." 

"Jellal please, right now I don't want to hear about how you never need money because you're so rich and blah-blah-blah!"

"Relax I haven't come to gloat. Listen Gray I know we haven't always seen things eye to eye in the past."

"Whatever you want the answer's no."

"All I want is to help you with your money problem."

"Wow you must really think that I'm stupid. As if you would ever help me or anyone for that matter."

"Just hear me out. You see I want to make a video of myself windsurfing like my dad used to do when he was younger and I want to break his record but the problem is I don't know how to work my dad's equipment."

"And this involves me how?"

"I can't work this advanced techno stuff but you can. In other words you can help me achieve my goal."

"Me doing you a favor? One problem I don't like you."

"But you like money don't you? Help me with my video and I'll give you fifty bucks."

"Fifty doesn't work for me. Make it a hundred and you've got a deal."

"Fine. Meet me here at the docks tomorrow morning."

"Well hang on if you're going windsurfing, shouldn't we meet at the beach?"

"I won't be windsurfing at the beach. My dad windsurfed around Tendrou Island making him one of the best surfers in history. If I can beat his record it'll be an incredible tribute to him."

"Alright I guess that's- Wait a minute did you just say Tendrou Island?"

"Yes."

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"Why is that?"

"Because...Because...Because recently it's become a shark breeding ground."

"I'm not scared of sharks. Are you?"

"No I just I hope you realize that by doing this you're in danger of becoming shark chow."

"I understand the risk and I don't care. Look if you're too scared to do this then I'll just find someone else."

"No. I'm not too scared."

"So I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah. You will."

"Great."

Gray would have declined but Jellal was going to Tendrou Island weather Gray helped him or not so he figured that it would be better if he went with him because he could keep him from finding the girls's hideout. 

"Are you nuts?!" Lucy said when Gray told her and the girls what he was palnning to do. "You can't take Jellal to Tendrou Island, what if he finds something?"

"Look who's going out there with or without my help so it's better that I go so I can make sure that he doesn't find anything." 

"Right and the fact that he's paying you a hundred bucks to help him doesn't have anything to do with it?" Erza asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's just a small bonus for me. I mainly doing it for your safety."

"Yeah right."

"I actually think it's good that Gray is going with him." Juvia said. "I mean it's better that Jellal has someone with him who will protect our secret then someone who won't. Have a little faith in Gray."

"Thank you Juvia." Gray said. "You don't have to worry, I'll do whatever it takes to keep him away from your private hang out. Oh and by the way I ran into Natsu earlier, I think you should talk to him Lucy."

"How come?" She asked.

"He wants to know what kind of relationship you want to have with him."

"I already told him that I'm not ready to start dating anyone right now."

"Yes and a few days after you told him that you made out with him."

"What?" Her cheeks turned blood red. "When was that?"

"Full moon." Erza reminded. "You did some crazy things while you under it's influence."

"Oh right. I still can't believe that I did that."

"Because of that kiss you gave him he's confused about how you feel and he's coming to me for answers." Gray said. 

"You haven't told him anything have you?" Lucy asked.

"Of course not but I don't like lying to him and if you don't give him an explanation soon he'll keep trying to get something out of me. I won't tell him but if he finds out I'm keeping something from him he might end our friendship and I don't want that."

"Alright I'll think of something to tell him. But in the mean time you better not tell him or Jellal anything."

"Yeah because if you do you'll know what it's like to sleep with the fishes." Erza said.

"Duly noted." Gray said. 

Once that conversation was finished Erza and Lucy left for home.

"They don't trust me do they?" Gray said to Juvia.

"Well...I can't say for sure." She said.

"It's okay I know thay don't trust me. They probably think that I would sell them out for anything."

"I trust you." She said placing her hand over his.

"Really?"

"Yes. I trust you more than anyone else I know. and I know that you would never reveal our secret for anything. Don't take it so hard Gray. It's only because they haven't known you as long as I have. Give it time, eventually they'll know that you can be trusted."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

"You know I wanted to tell you my secret."

"You did?"

"Yes and I was so relieved when you found out. Lucy and Erza didn't think you would understand but I knew that you could be trusted."

"Why do you have so much faith in me?"

"Because that's what friends do. They trust each other no matter what."

She smiled and he smiled back. It hurt him a little that Lucy and Erza didn't trust him but knowing that Juvia did and always would made him feel much better.


	17. Chapter 17

The next day Gray went to meet with Jellal at the docks. He had a boat, a board, a sail, and a camera already.

"Just so we're clear if the sharks eat you I won't be arrested right?" Gray asked holding up a recorder.

"Yes." Jellal sighed. "If I end up getting eaten by sharks which will not happen, you won't be held accountable."

"Okay. Then we can get down to business."

They got into the boat and rode it toward Tendrou Island. There Jellal stepped on to his board and got ready to wind surf.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Gray asked him.

"Yes I am. Now start the camera."

"Wait a minute. Pay up." Gray said holding out his hand. "Give me the money now or no deal."

"You don't trust me?"

"Yes and with could reason too."

"Fine."

Jellal gave Gray the hundred dollars he promised him. After that Gray handed Jellal a walkie talkie, turned on the water proof video camera along with a timer and speed meter, and started filming. At first it was very slow and calm but then the wind picked up in Jellal's sail causing his board to go much faster. He steered it to glide around the island and jump it's waves at an excelling speed.

"I hate to say this." Gray said into the walkie talkie. "But if you keep going at this speed you'll probably beat your dad's record." 

"Whoo-hoo!" Jellal shouted excitedly. 

Gray tried to keep up with Jellal on the boat but the motor got flooded by some of the ocean water that splashed around the boat causing the motor to stop working. 

"Oh great!" Gray said. 

He put down the camera and started to try to restart the motor.

"Gray I can't see you anymore!" Jellal called from the walkie talkie. "What's happening?"

"I flooded the motor." Gray replied. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

In that moment, Jellal flet very proud of himself. He was going to do break his father's record and he could hardly wait to his father's reaction when he found out about it. Unfortunately he was so caught up in his victory that he didn't realize that he was heading straight into shark territory. He saw one of their fins and was so startled that he accidentally fell off of his board. Before he realized it, he had become surrounded by five or six sharks.

"Help! Shark!" He shouted fearfully. 

Meanwhile under the water, Erza swimming toward the island because she had forgotten her back pack at the pool. On her way there she caught sight of Jellal and the sharks. Even though she didn't like Jellal, she didn't believe that he deserved to be eaten alive by sharks. She remembered one time in Sonya's class, Sonya had said that the sharks native to Tendrou Island couldn't stand hot water. She swam underneath Jellal and used her powers to heat up the water. When the water started to bubble and steam, he looked down. He couldn't see much but he did see the sharks swim away and he got a glimpse of a large red fish tail.

"Hey what's that?"

But before he could get a better look at it, the tail swam away at an incredible speed.

"Jellal are you alright?" Gray asked. He had finally manged to get the motor running again and he drove the boat over to where Jellal was.

"Sharks!" He told him. "There were sharks everywhere and they were going to eat me!"

"I warned you that this was a shark breeding ground."

"Yeah but something scared them off."

"What?"

"I don't know. I didn't get a good look at it but it had a bright red tail."

"Red tail?" Gray said fearing what Jellal had seen.

"Yes didn't you see it?"

"No. No I didn't. Uh listen are you sure you didn't just imagine this red tail?"

"I know what I saw. A giant fish or sea creature saved me from those sharks."

"Intense fear can play tricks on your mind."

"It wasn't a trick. There was something down there and I'm going to find out what it is."

"Well that's not important right now. Let's get out of here before the sharks come back."

The went back to Magnolia as did Erza who before going home decided to check in and make sure that Jellal was okay. Not that she cared about him or so she told herself but because it was the right thing to do. She found him at his father's yacht being scolded by Mr. Fernanades.

"What were you thinking?!" He shouted angrily. "How could you be so foolish?!"

I just wanted to beat your record Dad and I did." Jellal said.

"And you think that's a good thing?"

"Sort of."

"Showing me up is something you consider a victory?"

"I wasn't trying to show you up Dad. It was meant to be a tribute to you."

"Well it's the dumbest tribute I've ever heard of."

"Omar please." Said Mrs. Fernandes who gently gripped her husband's shoulder. "He was only trying to-"

"Be quiet Alicia!" He said. "The boy needs to learn not to do things that will embarrass me!"

When his scolding was finished Jellal left the yacht looking very hurt and upset. Erza couldn't help but feel sorry for him, she had never actually seen his father and she didn't know much about his personality but if that was how he always spoke to Jellal then no wonder the guy acted like such a jerk. 

"Hey." She said walking up to him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Gray told me about that video you were making and I heard that you were almost eaten by sharks, I wanted to see if you were okay. Are you alright?"

"No." He admitted. 

"Did they bite you?"

"It's not the sharks. It's...It's...I don't know why I'm telling you this but it's my dad." He said. "You know the only reason I made that video was because I wanted my dad to be proud of me...For once but he wasn't at all impressed."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I don't need your pity. I get enough of it from the staff."

"You know I'm not trying to make you feel inferior."

"Then what are you trying to do?"

"I'm trying to be kind." 

He looked at her suspiciously, like he was expecting her to ask him for something. Like he believed the only reason she was being nice was because she wanted something from him.

"That's it?" He asked. "You just want to be nice?"

"What other reason could I have?"

He went silent for a moment and looked like he was going to answer but instead he walked away.

One week later Ur finally came home and everyone in her foster care was overjoyed to see her. She was a very slim woman in her thirites with extremely fair skin like Juvia and short dark hair that had purple highlights. Upon entering the house she smiled and embraced every one of her foster kids warmly. 

"I've missed you all so much." She said.

"We made you a cake." Romeo said.

"And we got you some welcome home presents." Gray added.

"You all are so sweet." She said.

Gray handed her a wrapped up box. She opened it up and found a brand new camera inside. 

"Gray this is amazing, how could you afford this?" Ur asked.

"I did a guy a really big favor. Do you like it?"

"Yes but it's too much. I can't accept this."

"Too bad it's non refundable. I made sure it was because I knew you would insist that I take it back even if you liked it."

"Oh come here you." She hugged him tight and kissed his forehead. He blushed but he secretly liked it, it reminded him of when his mother used to kiss his forehead. "Thank you so much."

"Here's my gift." Juvia said. "This one kind of goes with your first gift."

Her gift was an empty scrap book with a beautifully design cover nd plenty of pages to hold pictures.

"It's somewhere for you to keep your pictures when you take them. I know you keep them in your drawer but I think this would work better."

"That's so thoughtful."

"Do you really like it?"

"I love it, it's just what I need. Thank you sweetie." She hugged Juvia and kissed her forehead but as she pulled away from her she took notice of the locket which was around her neck. She looked at it as if it was something that she thought she would never see again.

"Ur are you okay?" Juvia asked noticing the strange look on her face.

"Yes. Yes I'm fine. What a pretty necklace you have there. May I see it?"

"Sure."

Juvia undid the chain and handed the locket to her. She gently ran her fingers over the pendent then opened it up, there was no picture inside. She seemed relieved by that.

"Where did you get this?" She asked. "Just out of curiosity."

"Gray gave it to me."

She turned to gray.

"I found it while swimming in the ocean." He said. "At the beach."

"Oh...I see. That's very nice of you to give it to Juvia, Gray." She handed the locket back to Juvia. "Anyway thank you all for the wonderful gifts and I can hardly wait to try that cake you made Romeo."

"You're going to love it." He told her.

"I'll be down to eat it as soon as I finish unpacking. Excuse me."

She went upstairs to her room, Romeo and Chelia went into the kitchen to get the cake, But Gray and Juvia just stood there feeling confused by Ur's actions. 

"That was an interesting reaction." Gray said. 

"I wonder why she was looking at my locket like that." Juvia said.

"Maybe she knows who previously owned it."

"If she did why wouldn't she tell us?"

"I don't know. Should we ask her about?"

"Not now. She just got home and she's had a long trip. The last thing she needs is us interrogating her."

"Good point."

"So let's just eat dinner, have some cake, talk, and be glad that she's back."

"Right."

"By the way how did things go with Jellal?"

"Pretty good. I got my money but I think he might have seen Erza."

"What do you mean?"

"He was attacked by sharks and he said something with a large red tail scared them away."

"Oh dear. He didn't see anything else did he?"

"Not that I know of."

"We better tell Erza and Lucy what happened. First thing tomorrow."

"Agreed."


	18. Chapter 18

A month had passed since the girls had transformed into mermaids and they were starting to get the hang of things. They were learning to hide their secret better and to avoid water touching them in public better. The three of them were always together either attending school, swimming in the sea around Tendrou Island, or having a smoothie at the juice bar. 

Like today for instance. The girls were hanging out at the juice bar with Gray watching the other customers at the bar sing karaoke. It was karaoke day, every few weeks the owner of the juice bar would allow his customers to sing in front of everyone. The one who was singing at the moment was Minerva but she had no musical talent whatsoever. But because she was pretty, popular, and somewhat scary everyone applauded her. Everyone except Gray and the girls. 

"Where's earplugs when you need them?" Erza asked. "Minerva is terrible." 

"No kidding." Gray said. "I hate karaoke. It's just a bunch of wannabes looking for their fifteen minutes of fame and half of them can't even sing. I think it's pretty deluded." 

"I think it's fun." Lucy said. "I'd do it if I could sing." 

"You can't be as bad Minerva." Erza said. 

"She's not that bad." Juvia said. 

"Are you kidding? She's horrible and she would be booed off the stage if so many people weren't afraid of her destroying their social life." Erza said. 

"Besides Juvia you're a much better singer than her." Lucy said. "Why don't you go up there and sing something. Let everybody hear from someone who can actually sing for once." 

"No thanks." Juvia said starting to feel shy. "I mean I'm not really all that good you know and it's been so long." 

"What do you mean? You used to sing all the time when we were kids." 

"Well I haven't had much time to do singing since I starting becoming a teenager." 

"There's nothing to be worried about. You sound wonderful." 

"I'm sure you could out sing Minerva any day." Erza said.

"Is that right?" Minerva had overheard her conversation. She didn't like when people said that anyone was better than her especially when it was someone who she considered to be a loser. Now she knew that Juvia was a better singer than her but she knew something else about Juvia. Something that she could use to humiliate her. "If you're so much better than me then why don't you sing?" 

"I don't think-" 

But Minerva just grabbed Juvia by the arm pulled her on to the stage. 

"Oh no. This isn't going to end well." Gray said. 

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked. 

"You'll see." 

The music was turned on and all eyes were on Juvia. But she just became as stiff as board while clutching the microphone as tightly as possible. She couldn't move, talk, and she especially could not sing. When everyone save for her friends started laughing at her, she dropped the microphone and ran out of the juice bar. 

"What a freak." Minerva snickered.

"Shut up Minerva!" Erza snapped. 

"What did I do?" She asked feigning innocence.

"You know what you did!" Gray said.

"Do you really need to make others feel bad just so you can feel good about yourself?" Erza said. "You're really pathetic!"

Then Lucy, Erza, and Gray ran out of the juice bar to look for Juvia.

"What just happened?" Lucy asked. "Why did Juvia freeze up like that?"

"Lucy when was the last time you heard Juvia sing exactly?" Gray asked. 

"I don't know. When we were eight, nine maybe." 

"That's what I thought. Remember when we were in tenth grade and you had to miss a week of school due to getting chicken pox?" 

"Yes. It was the worst week of my life." 

"Well while you were gone Juvia signed up for the school talent show but when she went on stage and saw how many people were watching her she got scared and froze up. Ever since then she's had stage fright and Minerva knew it." 

"I can't believe she would stoop so low." 

"I can." Erza said. "That woman is evil incarnate I tell you." 

"What does she have against Juvia?" Lucy asked. "She's never done anything to 

"Because she's petty and jealous." Gray said. 

"That chick is pretty and popular." Erza said. "Why would she be jealous?"

"Let's see Juvia is kind, sweet, genuinely liked, talented, beautiful." Gray listed on his fingers. "In other words everything she's not."

Lucy and Erza grinned at Gray.

"What?" He asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"So you think Juvia is beautiful?" Erza said teasingly.

"Uh..." He blushed. "She's beautifully...Smart! And funny! Yeah beautifully smart and funny! Heh, heh. I mean she's not bad looking, she's okay and um...Um...Um...Stop looking at me!"

The blonde and red head giggled. 

"Let's just try to find Juvia." Erza said trying so hard not to laugh at his nervousness.

"Right. So where do you think Juvia went?" Lucy asked. 

"My best guess would be the park." Gray said. "Come on." 

Indeed, Juvia had run off to the park where she alone on a bench feeling so very embarrassed. She always knew Minerva was mean but she never thought she was this mean. She wished that she wouldn't let people like Minerva bully and humiliate her but she had trouble gaining confidence. 

"Hello there." 

She looked to see that mysterious blonde woman sit next to her on the bench. 

"Oh it's you." Juvia said. 

"I saw what happened. I'm so very sorry my dear. Teenagers can be so cruel...No offense." 

"None taken." 

"I had an old friend who was in a similar situation." 

"Really? How did she handle it?" 

"Her first idea was to change her name and flee the country. But she eventually came to the conclusion that what happened wasn't the end of the world. But I haven't come to tell you about my old friends. Tell me do you know what day it is?" 

"Wednesday?" 

"There's going to be a full moon tonight." 

"Uh-oh." 

"You and your friends better be prepared. Remember do not look at it and do not touch water when it is out." 

"What's going to happen to us? Are we going to turn into some sort of fish monsters?" 

"For warned is for armed but only sometimes." 

"Juvia there you are!" Lucy called.

She looked to see that her friends had found her. But when she turned back to the blonde woman she saw that she was gone. 

"I really wish she would stop doing that." Juvia said. 

"Are you alright Juvia?" Gray asked her. 

"I'm fine really. Besides we have a bigger problem. I ran into that woman again and according to her there's supposed to be a full moon tonight." 

"Oh no not again." Erza said. "What are we supposed to do? We can't have another night like that."

"I've got an idea." Gray said. "Lucy, Erza why don't you stay over at our place tonight? That way I can make sure that none of you are effected by the moon."

"That's not a bad idea." Juvia said.

"But what about Ur and Porlyuscia?" Lucy asked.

"Ur will be in a meeting with social workers tonight and Porlyuscia has a date."

"That old woman has a date?" Erza asked.

"Don't try to visualize it, you won't sleep again for a week." Gray said. "Trust me."

"Alright that keeps the adults from being suspicious." Erza said. "But what about the nosey kids?"

"Just give Romeo a video game and he'll be distracted for a month."

"As for Chelia they're showing a marathon of her favorite show tonight so she should be distracted." Juvia said.

"Okay so we're set." 

"Wait a minute it's a school night." Lucy said. "What if our parents don't let us?"

"My mom won't mind." Erza said.

"My dad will." 

"Lucy I don't think you have much of a choice in this. Unless of course you want to turn back into that thing again."

"Thing?" Lucy said. "What thing? I thought all I did last time was eat fish and kiss Natsu. Now you're telling me that I turned into something. What did I turn into?"

"You don't want to know." Juvia said.

"Tell me. Was I scary? Gross? Ugly?"

"Yes, yes, and yes." Erza said.

"Erza!" Juvia scolded.

"What? She wanted to know. Who are we to lie?"

"Did Natsu see me like that?" Lucy asked.

"No."

"Thank God. Alright change of plans, I have to find some way to convince my father to let me stay over and he doesn't then I'll just sneak out."

"Wow you're really going to sneak out?" Erza said.

"If I have to. Because there is no way on earth I am going to let myself turn into...Whatever it is I turned into last time."

"So we're all in agreement."

"Let's meet up at six." Juvia said.

With that agreement made the four of them went home to get things ready for tonight. Erza asked her mother if she could stay over at Juvia's place to which she agreed, Lucy's asked her father and it took some extreme begging but she was able to convince him to allow her to stay over, as for Gray and Juvia they bought Romeo a new video game for him to play and made sure that Chelia was distracted with watching her marathon. 

"Is everything ready?" She asked Gray.

"Yep." He told her. "Ur and Porlyuscia are gone and Romeo and Chelia are both distracted for the night."

"Good." She sighed in relief. "Now all we have to do is make sure that nobody looks at the full moon or touches water."

"Not a problem. How difficult can it be to do that?"

"It's not that easy. Remember it happened to Lucy and it almost happened to me and Erza."

"Yeah but that's because we didn't know how wacky the moon's effects was on you three. Now that we know we'll be much more prepared."

"I hope so."


	19. Chapter 19

At six o'clock Lucy and Erza arrived with sleeping bags and snacks. Juvia ordered a pizza and set up comfy pillows and warm blankets for them while Gray hooked up the TV and picked out a few movies.

"So I've got a few chick flicks and some horror movies, please pick a horror movie." Gray said.

"Alright Gray we won't torture you." Erza said. 

"I don't know. I don't really like horror movies." Juvia said.

"If it gets too scary for you just hide under the blankets." Erza said. 

The pizza arrived at seven. They ate it up then later put in a movie to watch. It was horror flick and both Lucy and Juvia were only taking a few peeps from their blankets. Erza wasn't scared at all, she just casually ate popcorn and said a few comments once or twice.

"Don't open the door." She told the main character on the TV screen. "Don't open the- Oh! She opened the door. Why are people in horror movies so stupid?"

"How are you not freaked out by this?" Gray asked Erza.

"I've seen stuff way scarier than this."

"Hey guys what time is the moon supposed to rise?" Lucy asked.

Gray checked his watch.

"Two minutes." He said.

All too soon the full moon started to rise up in the night sky. Gray quickly got up from the chair and pulled the curtains over the windows. 

"Don't look at the moonlight!" Lucy said.

She, Juvia, and Erza immediately went under the blankets so they wouldn't see the moon. 

"How long do we have to stay under here?" Erza asked.

"Until Gray covers all the windows." Lucy said. 

"Alright ladies you can come out now." Gray said.

"Phew!" Lucy sighed. "Thank goodness."

"So back to the movie then?" Gray asked.

"No that movie is way too creepy. Can we please do something else?" Lucy asked.

"Karaoke DVD anyone?" Erza suggested pulling it from her packback.

"I don't think that's a good idea either." Lucy said. "Need I remind you of today's incident."

"Oh right. Sorry Juvia."

"No it's okay." Juvia said. "If you guys want to sing karaoke be my guest."

"You sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all. Hey it looks like we're running low on popcorn. You guys want me to fix some more?"

"That would be great." 

Juvia went into the kitchen to fix another bag of popcorn.She made sure that the kitchen window was covered before entering and it was so she walked right in. Unfortunately the curtains were very old and worn, having a hole in the left side which allowed a little moonlight to seep through. Juvia saw the moon's reflection in a cup of water that had been left on the counter. Just like with Lucy, Juvia became drawn and transfixed by the moonlight. She moved her hand toward the cup and her fingers swished through the water.

Forgetting the popcorn completely, Juvia walked back into the living room where Erza was setting up the karaoke DVD and the microphone. 

"So who wants to go first?" Erza asked.

"I would." Juvia said.

"Really?" 

"Yes."

"Okay."

Erza handed Juvia the microphone .

"What song do you want to sing?"

Juvia didn't answer instead she began to sing vocally into the microphone. Her voice was unlike anything they had ever heard. It was beautiful but it had some sort of eeriness to it and it seemed to be coming from all around them.

"Wow she's really good." Erza said.

"Something's wrong." Lucy said.

"What do you mean?"

"Juvia's a good singer but there's something different about it. I can't put my finger on it but something's not right. Don't you think Gray? Gray?"

He didn't respond. He just stood there staring at Juvia, completely mesmerized by her voice.

"Gray? Yoo-hoo Gray." Lucy said trying to get his attention.

"Hello? Earth to Gray." Erza said snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Have you gone brain dead or something?"

"She has the most beautiful voice." Gray said dazed.

"He's totally out of it." Lucy said.

"Want me to slap him?" Erza suggested.

"No." 

But Juvia's voice didn't just ensnare him. Before walking out of the kitchen she had cracked the window open so that whoever was near her house would hear her voice when she sang. Minerva happened to be driving by with Jellal in her car and Natsu was walking back from the beach. All three of them heard Juvia's singing and just like Gray, Natsu and Jellal became entranced by it.

"What is that?" Minerva asked when she heard it.

"It's amazing." Jellal said. 

Jellal got out Minerva's car and followed the voice.

"Jellal what are you doing? Come back here!"

But he just ignored her and headed straight for Gray and Juvia's house with Natsu following close behind him.

"What is going on here?" Minerva asked in confusion. 

Juvia finished her song and a pleased look appeared on her face when saw how Gray was staring at her, completely lovestruck.

"Did you like my song Gray?" She asked in a way that made her look both innocent and seductive.

"Uh-huh." He said nodding dumbly.

"Juvia are you feeling alright?" Lucy asked her.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well it's just that you sang in front of us and you have major stage fright."

"I got over it."

"Just like that?"

"Yes." She turned back to Gray. "Would you mind coming with me to my bedroom? I need some help with something." She started to walk upstairs to her room.

"Okay." He said grinning and moving to follow her.

"Oh no you don't." Erza said grabbing him by his arm. "You wait here."

Lucy and Erza followed Juvia up to her room.

"Juvia." Lucy said. "By any chance did you look at the moon and touch water?"

"Would you be mad if I did?" She asked trying to look innocent.

"I'll take that as a yes." Erza said.

"How did this happen?" Lucy said. "Gray covered all the windows."

"Looks like he missed one or something."

"Alright let's not panic. What exactly happened to me when I was under the moon spell? What did I do?"

"You kept trying to get out and go swimming in the ocean."

"Don't worry I don't want to go swimming." Juiva gigled.

"You don't?" Erza said unsure.

"No. Not in the least. I just want to play with Gray. Could you send him up please?"

"I don't think so." Lucy said. "In fact I think it would be best for everyone if you stayed in your room all night."

"Alone?"

"No with us. We're going to stay in here with you all night and make sure that do anything that will get us into trouble."

"No offense but I'd rather have Gray stay with me all night and I think he would prefer it too."

"Not happening."

"Uh Lucy we have another problem." Erza said looking downstairs.

"What now?"

At the bottom of the stairway stood Natsu and Jellal with the same mesmerized look that Gray had. 

"What are you two doing here?" Erza asked.

"We heard this awesome voice and we just had to know who was singing." Natsu said. "Who was it singing?"

"No one." Lucy lied. "It was just someone on the radio."

"No it was Juvia." Gray said. "She's so cool."

"Quiet you!" Erza told him.

"That was Juvia?" Jellal said. "Can we see her? Please?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Hi boys." Juvia said said standing at the top of the stairway with a flirty smile and wave. "Are you here to see me?"

Jellal and Natsu nodded.

"Would you sing for us?" Jellal asked.

"I suppose I could if you two did me a favor?"

"We'll do anything." Natsu said.

"Go outside and dance in your underwear."

"Alright." They said starting to get undressed.

"No!" Lucy and Erza screamed. They turned bright red and stopped them right away.

"Are you crazy?!" Lucy cried.

"Ignore what she just said and leave now!" Erza said.

"You get rid of those two and I'll get Juvia back into her room." Lucy said.

"Gotcha."

"Come on Juvia let's go back in your room so we can have a little talk." The blonde said pulling her blue haired friend into her bedroom.

"Alright you two get out of here! Go on! Shoo! Shoo!" Erza pushing Jellal and Natsu toward the door. 

"Can't we stay a little while longer?" Natsu asked.

"No. Now beat it and keep your clothes on."

She shoved them out of the house then went back inside to somehow snap Gray out of his trance. All it took was a thump on the head to bring him back to his senses. 

"Ow! What was that for?" He asked.

"Quick question Gray what do you think of Juvia?"

"What do I think of her?" He said. "I guess she's okay."

"Good you're back to normal."

"What are you talking about? And what just happened?"

"Juvia looked at the moon and touched water."

"That's not good. Is she scarfing down fish?"

"No but she's singing in a really weird way that made you, Jellal, and Natsu zone out and act really weird."

"How weird?"

"Juvia told Jellal and Natsu to dance outside in their underwear and they were going to do it."

"Oh..."

"She's also being really flirty."

"She sounds like a siren."

"A what?"

"A siren. Their mermaids from Greek myths who used their singing to lure sailors to their deaths. I hope this isn't as bad."

"Are you saying Juvia would try to kill men?!"

"Well judging by what you told me, it sounds more like she wants lure men to their humiliation not their deaths. Of course if Jellal was one of her victims I wouldn't stop her."

"That takes one weight off my shoulders."

"Hey Juvia didn't make me to do anything embarrassing did she?"

"No unless you count swooning and hanging your tongue out of your head as embarrassing."

Gray blushed. 

"I was doing that?"

"The whole time she was singing."

"Oh God."

"Don't feel bad, Natsu and Jellal were doing the same thing."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The last time I saw Natsu drool like that it was over a burger. Gross. What is it with men unable to keep their jaws closed when they have crushes?"

"Well it's not like I actually have a crush on her or anything. It was the full moon."

"Right." Erza said rolling her eyes.

"Listen I'm going to get some ear plugs just in case she starts to sing again. You tell Lucy about the whole siren thing and try to keep Juvia from singing."


	20. Chapter 20

Juvia sat up in her bedroom, brushing her hair and staring into a mirror while singing out loud. Lucy and Erza tried to get her to stop because every time she sang a teenage boy who heard her would come by the house asking to see the girl with the incredible voice. 

"Get out of here!" Erza said trying to shoo away the teenage boys in the yard. 

"Juvia could you please stop singing?" Lucy asked her. 

"Why?" She asked.

"Because we're sick of all these boys showing up!" Erza said. 

"They don't mean any harm." Juvia said. "After all they just want to adore me but if they really do irritate you then I can always ask them to jump down a port hole and swim through sewage. They would do that I assure you."

"Juvia that's mean!" Lucy said surprised by what she said. "You wouldn't really do tat would you?"

"Why not? It would be funny." She giggled mischievously. 

"It would not be funny. Right Erza?"

"Well..." The red head said thinking. "If it was Laxus and Jellal maybe-"

"Erza!" Lucy scolded.

"I'm just kidding...Mostly."

"Ugh." Lucy sighed in frustration. "Where's Gray?"

"He's reading up on sirens, trying to figure out if Juvia has any other weird powers that she could use."

"Is he wearing ear plugs?"

"Yes, he can't hear Juvia but he can't hear us either."

"So how do we talk to him?"

"Charades?"

"Maybe if we take him outside and keep all the doors and windows closed he won't be able to hear her."

"But we can't just leave her alone. What if she runs away like you did?"

"Guys I've got good news." Gray said running back into the room with his ears plugged up. "I know I can't hear you but you guys can hear me so anyway the good news is at the moment Juvia has no other powers except to make guys go ga-ga over her when she sings."

"That's a relief."

"The bad news is I don't know how long she'll be like this and there are more guys outside."

"Great." Erza scoffed. 

"You guys should probably get rid of them." Gray said.

Lucy spotted a nearby white board and marker. She grabbed both and wrote on it: Who will watch Juvia?

"I will." He siad.

Erza wiped away the words and wrote new ones that said: Bad idea. What if you turn into a love struck idiot again?

"I have ear plugs. I can't hear a thing, don't worry about me." Gray said.

Lucy then wrote: Why can't you get rid of the guys?

"Because half the population of them either beat me up or throw me into a dumpster. I'm assuming they won't do the same to you two."

"I guess he makes a valid point." Lucy said.

"Alright we'll get rid of them." Erza said. 

The girls then walked over to where Juvia was still brushing her hair and said very sternly.

"Stay here! Do not move!"

Juvia nodded innocently and when they left her room she went back to brushing her hair while gazing into a mirror. She then put down her brush and looked at Gray in a very lovingly manner which made him blush a little.

"Okay now Juvia don't get any ideas." He told her, backing away real slow like.

She moved her lips in a way that looked like she was talking. Not singing but talking.

"Juvia are you trying to tell me something?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Is it something important?"

She nodded again.

"You're not going to start singing when I take these earplugs off are you?"

She shook her head.

"You wouldn't lie to me would you?"

She shook her head again. 

Gray was skeptical but he didn't think the moon spell was so powerful that it would change Juvia into the deceitful type so he took off his ear plugs. Unfortunately he was wrong and she immediately started singing again. He became more drawn to her than the last time, a voice in his head told him to stop but the power of the siren song along with his own romantic feelings toward the blue haired girl was too strong for him to resist. He leaned in, Juvia didn't back away, she only leaned in as well. Their lips met in a kiss and before they knew it they were on her bed making out. 

It wasn't long before Erza and Lucy finally managed to chase away all the boys and coming back upstairs to find Gray and Juvia locked in each other's arms, kissing passionately. 

"What is going on here?!" Lucy shouted. 

The two broke apart to look at them then went back to kissing.

"Oh man you have the prettiest eyes." He said between kisses.

"And you have the cutest nose." She said.

"Alright break it up! Break it up!" Erza said pulling Gray from Juvia. The teenage boy's face was covered in kiss marks and he was wearing a love sick look. 

"I'm in love." He slurred. 

"Yeah sure you are. Let's go lover boy." Erza dragged him out of the room. "You moron! You said you wouldn't take off your ear plugs! I should kill you for this!"

"I regret nothing and I die happy."

"Oh shut up. I'm locking you up for the rest of the night."

"Can Juvia give me a good night kiss?" 

"No."

"Killjoy."

After that was done Lucy and Erza spent the entire night trying to keep Juvia from causing anymore trouble. But every chance she had, she would either open a window and sing out to boys who walked by or call random boys and sing to them over the phone. Once they were entranced she would try to get them to do humiliating things, Erza and Lucy managed to stop most of them. 

Eventually Juvia fell asleep and by then her friends were exhausted from trying to keep her under control. In the morning when the moon had set, Juvia woke up with no memory of the night before. 

"Oh my head." She groaned. 

"Juvia is that you?" Lucy asked. "The real you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you want to sing out loud to a crowd of boys?" Erza asked.

"What? No! Of course not! After what happened at the juice bar, no way."

"Good she's back."

"Back? Where have I been?"

"You looked at the full moon and touched water last night." Lucy said.

"Oh no." She said. "How much fish did I eat?"

"You didn't eat any fish,"

"Okay did I sneak out? did I try to go swimming?"

"No."

"Oh. That's relief, so what did I do?"

"You turned into a siren and you tried lure any boy who heard you to sudden embarrassment." Erza said.

"I did? Uh-oh. Did I embarrass anybody?"

"Not a lot." Lucy said. "We managed to stop most of them."

"But you might find Laxus hanging from the school flagpole but his pants." Erza said.

"Oh my! I did that?"

"Sort of. He did it to himself but you told him to do it while he was under your love song spell thing."

"Oh dear..."

"Don't feel too bad, in my opinion he had it coming."

"Did I do anything else bad last night?"

"No. Not really." Lucy said.

"Hey! Why am I locked in a closet?!" They heard Gray shout from inside the closet where they kept the vacuum and other cleaning tools. 

"Oh yeah I forgot about him." Erza said.

The girls went down the hall and let Gray out.

"Sorry about that Gray." Lucy said. "But after what you did when you went under the spell a second time we had to keep you away from Juvia."

"After what I did? What did I do?" He asked.

"You don't remember?" 

"No. I mean I have bits and pieces but they're not adding up."

"Oh...Should we tell them?" Lucy asked turning to Erza.

"Tell us what?" Juvia asked.

"Why not? I got pictures." Erza said holding up her cellphone.

"Pictures of what?" Gray said. "Oh man, did she make me do something humiliating? Did she make me go streaking or something?"

"No." Lucy said. "But the thing is you two got a little close last night."

"How close?"

Erza pulled up a picture she had taken on her phone. It was of Gray and Juvia making out on her bed. Looks of utter horror and embarrassment crossed both of their faces.

"Oh my God!" They both cried in terror. 

They looked at each other, completely red in the face. 

"I'm so sorry!" They spoke at the same time. "I didn't mean to! Not that it was bad! No wait that doesn't mean I'm into you! Not that you're a bad person but I...I...I...Oh man/dear!" 

Then they ran off into their own rooms.

"Maybe we shouldn't have told them." Lucy said.

"They asked." Erza said. "What's with the whole talking at the same time thing?"

"Oh that? They've been doing that for years. They've been together for so long that their moments of panic tend to sync up with each other. It's kind of cute."

"And creepy."

"Yeah but it's a cute creepy."

"Are those two going to be okay? Should we talk to them?"

"Gray never wants to talk but Juvia usually feels better when she has someone to confide in. We should probably wait until she feels less...Flustered."

"I see. Well since the moon is gone and Juvia is back to normal, I guess it's safe to go outside."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see if Laxus is still hanging from the flag pole. Maybe get a few pictures that I can use to blackmail him later."

"You are so devious."

"I know."

"See you later?"

"Yeah."

"And Erza."

"Yes?"

"Don't show anyone that picture of Gray and Juvia."

"Don't worry I'm devious not evil." Erza winked.


	21. Chapter 21

One weekend morning Lucy, Juvia, and Erza were swimming together through the ocean. This was one of their favorite things to do together, nothing excited them more than riding the waves, swimming with the dolphins, and exploring the coral reefs. It was unlike anything the three of them had ever imagined. They had seen many ocean documentaries in school but they were nothing compared to this. Everything was just so beautiful and so amazing. After an hour of swimming the girls decided to swim to the pool of Tendrou Island and relax in the pool where they talked.

"That was wonderful." Lucy said.

"Riding the waves is so much fun." Erza said. "In my opinion it's way more fun than surfing."

"And the dolphins are so sweet." Juvia said. "I've always liked them you know, even when I was afraid of the water."

"Did you guys see the coral reefs?" Lucy asked. "I wish I could have gotten some pictures. Miss Stellar would love to see these."

"As much as I love Miss Stellar as a teacher." Erza said. "I am so ready for school to be over. Thank goodness it's June next month."

"Oh right June!' Lucy said excitedly. "You know what that means Juvia."

"Oh no. Not that." She sighed.

"What?" Erza asked.

"Every year at the start of June Magnolia has a big festival to celebrate the beginning of summer." Juvia said.

"It's really fun." Lucy said. "There's music and dancing and games! It's all so amazing!"

"So why is Juvia so gloomy about it?" Erza asked.

"Because every year Lucy tries to find dates to take us." Juvia said. 

"Why do you need dates?"

"Because they end the festival with a night of watching fireworks being lunched into the sky and it's just too romantic to watch with your friends." Lucy said.

"But Lucy we never get dates." Juvia said. "Why can't you just spare us the humiliation of rejection and just make it something you go to with friends? Or at least spare me the humiliation."

"I agree Luc." Erza said. "You don't need a date to have fun."

"I know but what's the point in wearing a dress and looking beautiful if there's no one to look beautiful for?" Lucy asked.

"Wait a minute dress?"

"Uh-huh. Lots of the girls who go there wear sundresses and summer frocks."

"Lucy always wears the prettiest ones." Juvia said.

"That's not true but mine are nice."

"They're prettier than mine. I've worn the same plain navy blue dress every year and now I've outgrown it."

"I can always take you shopping for a new one." Lucy suggested.

"Thanks. What about you Erza? Have any nice dresses?"

"Sorry I don't do dresses." Erza said. 

"Why not?"

"They just don't suit me."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked. "You'd look beautiful in a nice dress for summer."

"Thanks but I don't like dresses. I prefer pants." 

That was a half truth. Yes Erza did prefer pants but she wouldn't mind wearing a nice dress and looking just a little girly once in awhile. But the problem was she couldn't afford a suitable dress and she was embarrassed by that fact so she didn't tell her friends.

"What a shame." Lucy said. "You would look so great."

"Will you at least come to the festival with us?" Juvia asked.

"Sure. I would never miss a good party." 

"Great."

The girls then went for another swim and later got out of the water to grab some lunch. It was in the evening when they finally decided to go home. 

"How was your day Lucy?" Her father asked her when she came home.

"Fine Dad. I went out with Erza and Juvia."

"You know Lucy I think you should consider making new friends."

"What? Why?"

"Now don't get me wrong dear, Juvia is a very sweet girl. Always has been and I've always liked her but that other girl, what's her name? Elsa?"

"Erza, Dad."

"Right. I don't know if I want you around her."

"Why? She's one of the best friends I have."

"It's just that she doesn't seem to be the kind of girl you should be friends with. I mean have you seen how she dresses? Her clothes look like they come from good will."

"Dad you don't even know Erza. She's smart and fun and loyal and very supportive."

"Have you met her parents?"

"It's just her Mom and no I haven't."

"Have you ever been to her house?"

"No but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I just don't feel comfortable about you being friends with someone I don't really know about."

"Maybe if you would try to get more involved in my life you would know about her."

"Lucy I-"

Suddenly he was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

"Who on earth could that be at this hour?" Jude went to answer the door and when he saw who it was on the other side he looked very surprise. "Anna?"

"Jude how wonderful to see you."

A blonde woman in her thirties stepped into the house and hugged him much to his confusion. 

"How is my favorite brother in-law?" The blonde asked him.

"Fine but...What are you doing here?" 

"I was in the neighborhood and I thought I would pay you a visit. After all it's been so long. Now where is that niece of mine?" The woman called Anna started to look around and when she saw Lucy she smiled. "Lucy is that you? My how you've grown. Last time I saw you, you were only three and now look at you. You look so much like your mother."

Lucy was greatly confused. Who was this woman? And how did she know her and her dad and her mom.

"Um...Hello." She greeted politely. "I'm sorry but do I know you?"

"Jude you mean never told her about me?" Anna asked pretending to look her hurt. 

"Sorry Anna but it never came up."

"Dad who is this woman?" Lucy asked.

Jude gave a low huff of frustration before speaking again. As if this woman's presence annoyed him greatly.

"Lucy I would like you to meet Anna Heartfilia, your mother's very eccentric younger sister." 

"I'm your aunt sweetie." Anna said.

"Her aunt who disappeared off the face of the earth thirteen years ago." 

"Yes and I am dreadfully sorry for doing but believe me I had good reason."

"What good reason?"

"I'm afraid that's my little secret brother in-law dearest and I do apologize to just intrude on you like this without calling first but my boat has broken down and it won't be repaired for a few days, would you mind if I stayed here for awhile?"

"How long is a few days?"

"Three to four at most."

He huffed again.

"I guess there's no harm in you staying here for that long."

"Thank you Jude."

"I'll have the staff prepare a guest room. Lucy keep your aunt company while I see to the arrangements."

"Sure Dad."

The two of them went into the living room to sit and talk. At first they didn't say anything to each other, they just sat quietly. After fifteen minutes of this Lucy decided to break the silence and strike up a conversation.

"So you're my mom's sister?"

"I am."

"She never mentioned you."

"That's because I told her not to. For a long time I wanted to keep a low profile and there's also the fact that your father never liked me but I never liked him either so go figure."

Lucy chuckled a little.

"I didn't see you at Mom's funeral."

"I was there I just kept to myself and made sure no one saw me. Oh how I miss Layla so much. I didn't expect her to die so young."

"Neither did we." Lucy sighed.

"I am so very sorry. I know you and your father have suffered greatly since her passing."

"Yeah but you've probably suffered worse. Dad and I still had each other but Mom was probably all you had."

"She was but I won't dwell on that. There's no reason to."

"If you don't mind me asking, where have you been all this time?"

"Traveling the world, exploring, seeing new places and meeting new people."

"Sounds exciting."

"It is."

"Do you plan on staying here long? In Magnolia I mean or will you be leaving once your boat is fixed?"

"Lucy I have a confession to make."

"What is it?"

"I know you don't really know me but can I trust you to keep a secret?"

"I guess as long it doesn't involve something illegal."

"Oh goodness no. None of that." She then started to whisper. "The truth is my boat didn't break down."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I needed to see you. To talk to you about something very important."

"What?"

"Now is not a good time to tell you but I'll give you a small hint."

Anna pulled something from her shirt. It was a locket and not just any locket, one that looked exactly like the locket Juvia always wore. It was silver, oval shaped, and it had a stone in the middle. However stone on this necklace was different from the one on Juvia's. The stone on Juvia's was a blue sapphire while this one was a white diamond.

"Look familiar?"

"Where did you get that?" Lucy asked.

"I've had it for a very long time. It's the most precious thing I've ever owned and there's a third one as well."

"A third one?"

"Yes. It's a set if you will, a set of three. Funny thing about lockets, they say that they'll keep your secrets. Three who keep a secret."

Lucy's brown eyes started to become wide with caution and suspicion. As if she was just now realizing that this woman knew her greatest secret.

"Alright Anna your room is already." Jude said walking into the room.

"Thank you Jude." Anna said putting her locket away. "I think I shall go to bed now. I've had a very long day but we'll talk more tomorrow, won't we Lucy?"

"Yeah." Her niece said almost stunned. "We'll definitely talk more tomorrow."

"How about after breakfast? We could walk by the docks and I'll show you my boat."

"Sure. That would be great."

"Goodnight Lucy, goodnight Jude." She gave her niece one more smile before going upstairs into the guest room.


	22. Chapter 22

Lucy couldn't sleep a wink that night. She was too busy thinking about what her aunt had said and was worried that she knew her secret. And if she did how did she find out? She had just come here right? She had always been so careful not to get wet in front of other people. Careful not to let anyone see her when she had a tail. Did she slip up? Did Anna get a glimpse of her swimming one day without her knowing? If she did then this was bad. Very bad.

In the morning she didn't eat much at breakfast and when she went walking with Anna she barely said a word. What should say? What could she say? How could she find out if Anna knew her secret without revealing her secret? Also how come her mother never mentioned her once? Her father not mentioning her she understood. He never talked about people he didn't like but why would her mother not say anything?

"Is everything alright dear?" Anna asked her.

"Everything's fine but can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Last night what did you mean by three who keep a secret?"

"I was referring to me and my friends."

"Friends?"

"Yes. There were three of us and we shared the same secret with each other which we always kept."

"Oh I see." Lucy sighed in relief.

"Just like how you and your two friends share the same secret."

Lucy's eyes went wide in panic again.

"Aunt Anna."

"Yes?"

"Do you know something?"

"I know a lot of things."

"No what I mean is do you know...About the secret about me and my friends?"

"Let me answer that with a question of my own. Has your friend Juvia mentioned speaking with a mysterious woman? One who gives her warnings about the full moon?"

"Yes how did you know that? And how do you know Juvia?"

"Because I am that woman." Anna smiled.

"That was you?"

"Yes."

"You know don't you?"

"I think we should discuss this with your friends in a more private area. Like my boat, why don't you call them over? I have tea and cookies."

She didn't have to bribe the girls with sweets because as soon as Lucy told them that her aunt was the woman who had been giving Juvia the warnings, the read head and bluenette immediately went over to meet Lucy on the docks. The three of them were then escorted onto Anna's boat. It was one of those live in boats that sailors and travelers stayed in.

"I do hope you girls like tea cakes there my favorite cookies." Anna said putting a tray of them on to the table where the girls sat.

"They're fine thank you." Juvia said.

"So you're the lady who's been telling us about the full moon?" Erza asked.

"Yes I am. Tell me have you been heeding my warnings?"

"We've tried to." Juvia said.

"I understand, it's not easy to avoid moonlight. Would any of you like some milk with your tea?"

"No thank you." They said.

"Aunt Anna now that we're alone we don't have to tip-toe around the subject anymore." Lucy said. "You know that we're mermaids don't you?"

Anna looked down her cup of tea and took a quiet sip before answering.

"Yes I do."

"But how did you know?"

"I recognized the signs."

"What signs?"

"The signs I saw on Juvia. When I saw her working at the marine park I noticed how she did everything she could not to get wet. No person is that desperate to stay dry in public unless they have a tail that'll sprout once they touch water."

"Still there's no way mermaid was the first thing that popped into your head when you saw that." Erza said. "If that were true then everybody who saw Juvia that day would know she was a mermaid."

"And even if that is how you figured it out, how did you know Erza and Lucy were mermaids too?" Juvia said.

"Because I've been through all this before." Anna said.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

Anna took off her locket and handed it to Lucy.

"Look at the picture inside."

Lucy opened up the locket and the girls looked at the miniature picture inside. It was of three teenage girls: One had blonde hair, one had dark purple hair, and the third had light brown hair and all three of them had fish tails. The blonde had an orange tail like Lucy, the dark haired one had a purple tail like Juvia, and the brunette had a red tail like Erza.

"You three aren't the first girls that Tendrou Island turned into mermaids." Anna said.

"You mean you're a mermaid?" Lucy guessed.

"I was a mermaid." Anna corrected. "It was a very longtime ago."

"Who were the other two?" Juvia asked.

"They were my best friends in the whole world. We were like sisters and we were always together."

"What were there names?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. I promised if I ever told anyone about this I would keep them anonymous. You understand?"

"Sure." Lucy said. "Can you tell us how it happened?"

Anna sighed as she thought back to many years ago, when she was a young and carefree teenager. It was bittersweet for her because all those the memories were happy it made her sad.

"I was your age when it happened Lucy." Anna began. "Me and my friends decided to have our own private beach party at Tendrou Island. In the evening my more high spirited friend, the brunette with the red tail thought it would be fun to explore the island. Back then I had a huge fear of bugs, snakes, and things like that so I wasn't too keen on the idea but I ended up going with them. That's when we fell down that hole that led us to the moon pool. We went for a swim in the pool just as the full moon was rising over the volcano. The next day we had tails."

"I bet that was a pretty big shock." Lucy said.

"Yes it was. We were so scared when it first happened but it was a blessing in disguise. We shared the secret, we shared the adventure, and it brought us closer together then we had ever been. We could always rely on each other and our bond seemed unbreakable."

"Did you ever tell anyone?"

"The only person I trusted with my secret was your mother."

"Mom knew about this?"

"Over years as I became more secretive, Layla began to worry for me as all sisters do so one day when we were alone she pleaded with me to tell her what was going on. At first I tried to avoid telling her the best I could but if there was one person I trusted more than my friends it was my big sister so I told her everything. Well not everything...I only told her that I was a mermaid. I didn't tell her about my friends until I had their permission."

"How did she react?"

"At first she was very scared, scared for me. Scared that something terrible was happening to me. She was afraid that I was going to get really sick or something like that. She wanted to tell our parents and take me to a doctor but I managed to convince her that nothing bad was going to happen to me and in the end she promised to keep my secret."

"And Mom never told anyone?"

"She took the secret to her grave. That's why she didn't mention me that much when she was still alive. We didn't always see eye to eye but Layla could always be trusted and I'll forever be grateful to her for that."

"What about your friends?" Juvia asked. "Did they ever tell anyone?"

"Not really but keeping the secret was very hard on them, especially my more timid friend. It was hard on all of us but I think she took it the hardest."

"Is she the one with the dark hair?"

"Yes she is. She was always so very shy and nervous but one of the kindest people I ever knew. Much like you Juvia."

"Really?"

"Yes which is why I think it's very fitting that you wear her locket."

Juvia looked down at the pendent around her neck.

"Oh this was hers? If you want it I'll gladly give it to you."

"No. I have my own thank you and she..." Layla looked down at her hands sadly. "She threw hers away."

"Why?"

"She...She just couldn't take it anymore and eventually neither could I or my other friend. The burden became too great and we had to give it up."

The girls looked at her, surprised by her words.

"You can do that?" Juvia asked.

"How?" Lucy asked.

"Perhaps that should be saved for another time. I really don't like to think about that moment because that's when everything fell apart."

"What do you mean?"

Anna gently took Lucy by the hand and gave the girls a very sincere smile.

"You three have no idea how lucky you are to have each other. The burden you carry is too great to carry alone. Hold on to that and appreciate it, don't make the same mistakes that my friends and I made."

"Anna where are your friends now?" Erza said.

"I don't know. I haven't seen them in fifteen years but I miss them so much and not a day goes by when I don't think about them."

"We could help you find them, if you want?" Lucy suggested.

"No. As much as I would love to see them again I want to respect their wishes. They wanted to go their separate ways and at the time so did I."

Just then Lucy's cellphone rang. It was her father calling.

"Hi Dad what's up...We're just at the docks...Uh-huh...Okay we're on our way." She said. "Dad wants us home Aunt Anna."

"May I speak with him please?" Lucy handed Anna the phone. "Hello Jude? Yes we will be coming back but first I would like to stop and get some groceries...Because I'm going to cook dinner...Yes I know you have people who do that but I like to cook...For the last time Jude I'm not a vegan. Just because I like to travel doesn't mean I'm a hippie...I'll see you tonight. Goodbye."

She hung up.

"Ooo...What Layla ever saw in that man I'll never know."

The girls giggled at her comment.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are things so tense between you and my dad?" Lucy said.

"Oh we were bitter enemies as teenagers he thought I was crazy and I knew he was an arrogant rich jerk. He once told the entire school we were attending that I was practicing witchcraft."

"Dad was a bully?"

"Yep but he wasn't as bad as some and he changed after he fell in love with your mother. Fifteen years later, we got older, became more mature, and he still thinks I'm crazy and I know he's still an arrogant rich jerk."

"Rich kids." Erza said. "They are such a huge pain."

"Hey!" Lucy said insulted.

"Oh no offense Lucy."

"How is that not offensive. You know just because someone's rich it doesn't mean they're automatically mean."

"I know. I'm sorry. Sometimes I talk before I think."

"No kidding."

"Now, now don't argue." Anna said. "Would you ladies like to help me cook dinner tonight?"

"Sounds fun." Juvia said.

"We'd love to." Lucy said.

"Wonderful. In that case we better get to the market before all the best ingredients are bought up."


	23. Chapter 23

At the market Anna bought fresh fish and herbs. Later they went back to Lucy's house where she cooked a delicious grilled fish seasoned with the herbs. 

"That smells wonderful." Lucy said as she and her friends sat down at the table to eat. "Spetto when will Dad be a little late coming to dinner?" 

"I'm very sorry Miss Heartfilia." The middle aged maid replied. "But Mr. Heartfilia won't be able to join you for dinner this evening. He'll be in a meeting tonight." 

"Why am I not surprised?" Lucy sighed. 

"He sends his deepest apologies." 

"I'm sure he does." 

"Don't feel too bad dear." Anna said. "I'm sure your father would have loved to join us tonight had his work allowed him to." 

"I guess. Sometimes I feel like he'd rather be at work instead of here with me." 

"That's not true. Your father loves you very much." 

"Well he has a funny way of showing it.' 

Dinner was delicious but Lucy felt really disappointed that her father couldn't make it. To make her feel better, Anna told the girls stories about her friends and their days as mermaids. The girls really liked Anna, she was funny, sweet, and a very good cook not to mention they enjoyed hearing her stories. 

After dinner they all sat down together in the living room and Anna showed the girls some old pictures she had. Some were of herself and Layla when they were children, some were of them when they were teenagers, and some were of her with friends. 

"Here's me and Layla on our first trip to the beach." Anna said handing Lucy an old photograph of her and Layla playing in the ocean together as an eight and six year old. 

"You both look cute." Lucy said. 

"We loved going to the beach so much. We always had the most fun there especially your mother. She always said that she felt the most relaxed in the ocean." 

"I feel the same way." 

"I know. You're a lot like her. Oh Layla was truly loved to swim. I'd see her floating in the water for hours. Then one day she told our parents that she wanted to sign up for swimming classes, before we know it she became one of Magnolia's top swim champion." 

She pulled another photograph from her bag. "And here's me with my friends at the annual Summer festival." 

"They had the Summer festival back then?" Lucy asked. 

"Oh yes they've had that festival for decades." 

She handed the picture to Juvia. It showed a teenage Anna and her friends standing together on the docks, wearing matching lockets, and looking up at the fireworks with genuine smiles on their faces. 

"That was one of the most fun nights of my life." Anna said. "We had so much fun playing games, dancing, watching the fireworks, it was all just do exciting." 

"You all looked like you were having a good time." 

"We had the time of our lives that night. We were having so much and we were all just so happy that we had to get a picture. So I grabbed the nearest man walking by and asked him to take a picture of the three of us all together. It's one of my favorites." 

"I really like this picture." Juvia said. "It's so pretty." 

"Would you like to keep it?" Anna asked her. 

"But it's yours. You said that it was your favorite." 

"I have copies. Besides I want you girls to see how close my friends and I were back then." 

"Thank you. I'll keep it with me always." 

"I'm glad to hear that." Anna glanced over at the clock and saw how much time had passed. "My goodness it's become so very late. Erza, Juvia, no doubt you want to go home now." 

"Yeah but we'll gladly stay long enough to help you clean up." Erza said. 

"That's not necessary." 

"No really we want to." Lucy said. 

"Very well. You three wait here and I'll go get the cleaning supplies." 

While Anna was getting the dish detergent, the girls sat down on the couch to look at the picture. 

"Your aunt looks so much like you." Erza said looking at the younger Anna in the picture. "She even acts like you a little bit." 

"She and her friends sure do look happy." Juvia said. 

"I wonder what caused them to drift part." Lucy said. 

"Do you think that we could ever drift apart like that?" Juvia asked. 

"No way. I don't see that happening at all." 

"You never know." Erza said. "Anything could destroy a friendship." 

"Yes but some friendships are strong enough to withstand anything." Lucy said. 

"I hope ours is strong enough." Juvia said. 

Anna came back five minutes later and the four of them cleaned up the kitchen. Once that was done Erza and Juvia said goodbye to Anna and Lucy then went home. 

"Your friends are wonderful." Anna told her niece. "They remind me so much of my old friends." 

"You really miss them don't you?" 

"I do." Anna sighed as she looked at the picture in her locket. "I miss them so very much." 

Lucy grasped her aunt's hand comfortingly. 

"Did you ever try to contact them?" She asked. 

"I did once. But I couldn't find one of them and the other just didn't want anything to do with me. She was still so very angry." 

"What exactly happened between the three of you?" 

"It's very complicated and it's very hard for me to talk about. Someday I'll tell you what happened but for now I just don't feel up to it." 

"I understand." Lucy said. "Would you like to have some tea before bed?" 

"Tea would be lovely." She said with a smile. 

Lucy returned the smile and went to fix her aunt some nice hot tea to drink before going to bed. Meanwhile when Juvia came home she found Ur putting some of her pictures in the new scrapbook Juvia had given her. She had a lot of photographs, Juvia wasn't sure that if there was any room in the book for all of them. 

"Need any help?" Juvia asked. 

"Would mind handing me the pictures in that pile over there?" Ur asked pointing to the pictures on the other side of the room. 

"Sure." Juvia said. One by one, she handed the pictures to Ur who tapped them on to the pages of her book. 

"Did you have a good time at Lucy's today?" Ur asked. 

"Yes. I met her aunt." 

"Lucy has an aunt?" 

"Apparently. She's a very sweet lady and a good cook. She made us dinner." 

"That's nice." 

As Juvia handed Ur each picture she took a moment to briefly glance at each one and smile. A lot of them were of Ur and the kids together. But then she saw one picture that really caught her attention. It was of a teenage girl in a blue sundress with long dark purple hair that was kept in a braid. Juvia had never seen this picture before but the girl in the photograph looked very familiar. 

"Ur who's this?" Juvia asked holding up the picture. 

"Oh that's me." Ur answered when she saw it. 

"That's you?" 

"Yes. That picture was taken on my sixteenth birthday but you'd never guess that was me sixteen years ago. I was so different back then. My hair was longer and I wore girlier clothes, I was also very shy and timid back then." 

When Ur had her head turned, Juvia pulled out the picture Anna had given her. The dark haired girl in that picture looked identical to Ur when she was a teenager. 

"Is everything alright?" Ur asked noticing how quiet Juvia had become in that moment. 

"Yes everything's fine." Juvia said quickly putting the picture of Anna and her friends back in her pocket and handing the other picture to Ur. "You know Ur I don't really know that much about you when you were a teenager. What were your teen years like?" 

"Oh that was a very complicated and difficult part of my life. I'd rather not discuss it." 

"You sure?" 

"Yes. Besides it's not something you really tell people about." 

"Okay then." 

After helping Ur with her scrapbook, Juvia went back to her room where she stared at that picture for hours. It could just be a coincidence. A coincidence that Ur in her youth was a dead ringer for one of Anna's old friends. After all there were lots of people out there who looked alike but had no connection to each other and Juvia would have probably believed it was just a coincidence if she had not seen the locket the dark haired girl in the picture was wearing. 

It reminded Juvia of that day when Ur came home and how she started acting so strangely once she saw Juvia wearing that same locket. She had recognized that necklace from somewhere and she seemed somewhat afraid that Juvia had been the one to find it. Technically it was Gray who found it and when she questioned him about where he found it she felt relieved when he said it was at the beach. What if he had told her the truth? What if he had told her where he really found it? What would her reaction had been then? 

Ur was hiding something. Juvia could feel it and she had a pretty good idea of what it was Ur was trying to hide. Did this locket previously belong to her? Was she one of Anna's long lost friends? Had she once been a mermaid? If so then what happened? How did she, Anna, and that other girl give up their powers? And what had destroyed their friendship? Juvia desperately wanted to know but was it really her place to figure out? To meddle in someone else's past? To get involved in something that wasn't her business? 


	24. Chapter 24

The marine park had recently rescued a dolphin with an injured fin and the employees were tending to him. Within a week his fin had been fixed but they decided to keep him for a little while longer just to make sure nothing else was wrong with him. They called him Dudley. 

Juvia was on her way to feed him when the latch on the chain of her locket suddenly became loose. It fell from her neck and landed in the large pool where Dudley was. She checked to see if anyone was looking, once she was sure it was safe she jumped into the pool which allowed her to turn into a mermaid. She swam to the bottom of the pool and retrieved her locket but she had unintentionally caught the attention of Dudley. 

The dolphin seemed to look very sad and lonely so Juvia decided to cheer him up by swimming with him for awhile. He perked up almost right away, acting so very sweet and playful but then again that was how most dolphins were. After playing with him for thirty minutes she slipped out of the water, dried off, and once she had her legs back she went to feed him. Dudley squeaked excitedly when he saw her and swallowed the fish she threw to him. 

"You fed him." Her boss Mr. Neekis said in a surprised voice. 

"Was I not supposed to?" She asked. 

"No. No that's good." He said. "The thing is he hasn't been eating much lately and he's been awfully shy ever since he arrived here. He hasn't been comfortable around anyone... Anyone except you. What's your secret?" 

"Well I..." Juvia said trying to think of a good excuse. "I guess he just likes my personality." 

After work she went to the juice bar with Erza. There they sat down at a table and drank smoothies while watching all the boys fawn over Minerva. It made Erza sick to her stomach. 

"Those guys are morons." Erza said. "They hang on her every word. I just don't understand what they see in that shallow witch." 

"Still I wish someone would be interested in me. Moron or not." Juvia sighed. 

"Someday you'll find a nice guy who will take a shine to you." 

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Thanks but I've pretty much given up all hope on that subject."

"Well you know they say, it happens when you least expect it."

Just then Jellal walked over to their table. 

"Well speaking of morons." Erza said.

"Nice to see you too Erza." Jellal said with a glare but then turned to Juvia with a smile. "Juvia can I have a word?" 

"As if she would waste her breath talking to you." Erza said. 

"Well she wastes it on you daily." 

"It's okay Jellal we can talk." Juvia got up from her table and went outside to talk with Jellal. 

"Can I buy you a drink?" He asked her. 

"No thank you."

"Are you sure? My treat."

"Jellal what do you want?" She asked.

"Can't I be nice?" 

"Maybe but you've never been nice to me. Not unless you want something from me. So what is it?" 

"You're nobody's fool Juvia, I respect that. Alright the thing is, the marine park has a library with information on every sea creature right?" 

"Yes."

"So can you get me access?" 

"Probably but why would I do that?" 

"Because...Because...Because a lot of sea creatures are going extinct and I want to do research on new ways to help preserve them." 

"Really? You want to help preserve wildlife?"

"Yeah. I'm very fond of it."

"Huh...I never pictured you as the species saving type." 

"There's a lot more to me than what you see Juvia. So what do you say?" 

"I'll see what I can do. What species do you want to do research on?"

"Oh...Ones that are rather big."

"Like whales and purposes?"

"Sort of but more rare, hardly ever seen by man. You think they have a subject on something like that?"

"If it exists then they have it."

"Great. You'll call me once you have their okay to let me in the library won't you?"

"Yes I will."

"Good. Here's my number."

He gave her a slip of paper that had his cellphone number written on it.

An hour later Juvia arrived back home where she found Ur dusting around the living room. She still couldn't believe that Ur could possibly be a mermaid. Or rather possibly was a mermaid. She wanted to ask her about it but what if her suspicions were wrong? What if it was all just a coincidence and she ended up exposing her secret. 

"Is something wrong Juvia?" Ur asked when she noticed the girl looking at her.

"Oh no everything's fine." She said. 

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay. So how was work?"

"It was fine. They rescued a dolphin, the poor thing washed up on the beach with a broken fin."

"Is it alright?"

"It's recovered but they're keeping it longer to make sure it's healthy."

"That's nice."

At the moment the phone rang, Juvia answered.

"Hello?...Oh hi! I didn't expect you to call here...Oh really?...Huh...No I don't have any plans tonight...Of course I'd love to. It's a date." Juvia hung up and left the house. 

Judging by what she said over the phone Ur assumed that Juvia had a boyfriend who called to ask her out on a date. She smiled to herself, it was about time Juvia went out with a nice boy. She was always such a shy girl and Ur felt that she wasn't socializing as much as she should. 

"Hey Ur." Gray said arriving home just fifteen minutes after Juvia had left. 

"Hello Gray, how was your day?" She asked.

"The usual. I went to school, did all my work, was harassed by overly muscular pea brained bullies, and got a smoothie from the juice bar."

"Listen Gray, Porlyusica and I are going to help a friend of hers move into her new house so I need you to watch Romeo and Chelia tonight."

"Alright I'll call Juvia and let her know."

"Oh don't bother, she's going out tonight."

"Going out? Out to do what?"

"Out on a date with her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?!" He cried out in shock. "Juvia has a boyfriend?!"

"Yes. He called here and invited her to go out with him tonight. Isn't that sweet?"

"No it's weird!"

"Weird?"

"What I mean is...It's weird that she wouldn't tell us that she had a boyfriend."

"Her romantic interests are none of our concern."

"But to just go out with some guy out of the blue, without telling us? Isn't that a little unlike her?"

"It is unlike her but I'm not worried. Honestly I'm glad she has a nice boyfriend. I was getting worried that she would never be able to form a romantic relationship with anyone."

"You don't know that he's nice. He could be a punk for all we know."

"Juvia's smarter than that. She wouldn't go out with some hoodlum."

"Then why wouldn't she tell us about him?"

"Because it's none of our business dear."

"What's going on?" Chelia asked walking in on the conversation.

"Juvia has a boyfriend." Ur said.

"Really? I didn't think boys liked her."

"Chelia!" She scolded.

"I'm sorry but I hear a lot of boys say that she's weird."

"She's not weird and you shouldn't pay attention to people who say things like that."

"I just still can't believe Juvia wouldn't tell us about this guy." Gray said. "Maybe she told Lucy and Erza."

Gray quickly called Lucy on his phone.

"Juvia has a what now?" Lucy said when Gray told her the news. 

"A boyfriend and she went out with him tonight."

"Are you sure that's what happened?"

"Ur's never lied to me about anything."

"I'm not saying she's lying but maybe she misunderstood. I mean if Juvia had a boyfriend she would've told us but then again maybe she felt embarrassed. In retrospect we shouldn't meddle into her personal life."

"But what if this guy she's seeing is a total psycho?"

"I seriously doubt that Juvia would go out with a psycho. But to be honest I think that Ur just misheard the phone call."

"So you don't think she has a boyfriend?"

"99 percent sure. Besides Juvia tells you everything right Gray?"

"Right."

"So if she really did have a boyfriend I'm sure she would tell you."

"You have a point there."

"Yeah so why don't you just relax?"

"Okay you're right. I'm getting all upset over nothing."

"Exactly. But why are you so upset about this anyway? Don't you want Juvia to have a nice boyfriend?"

"No! I mean yes...I mean...I gotta go. Bye." He hung up after that.

Little did they all know was that it wasn't a boy who had called Juvia. It was her boss. Apparently he was having trouble feeding Dudley and he was hoping that Juvia would be able to help. Unfortunately people tend to jump to the wrong conclusions a lot.


	25. Chapter 25

From the moment on Juvia's schedule changed. She would go to school, then work, and before going home she would visit Dudley and help Mr. Neekis feed him. However neither one of them could figure out what was wrong with him. 

"Is his fin hurting him?" Juvia asked her boss.

"No. According to the vet his fin should be completely healed." He told her. "I just don't understand why he isn't eating that much."

"Could he be sick?"

"Maybe."

"If you want Mr. Neekis, I could go to the library and read up on the dolphins. I might find an explanation on what's wrong with him."

"Good idea."

Juvia went to the marine park library and checked out three books on dolphins. She hoped that at least one of them could help her figure out what's wrong with Dudley. On her way out of the library she ran into Jellal who had checked out a huge load of books. 

"My goodness, you sure are doing a lot of research Jellal." Juvia observed. "Do you need any help carrying those?"

"No I got it." He assured her. "By the way thank you for giving me access here."

"You're welcome. Saved any creatures yet?"

"What? Oh yeah right um...No not yet. So if you don't mind me asking what are you researching?"

"Dolphins and their behaviors. That new dolphin they rescued isn't eating very well and they don't know what's wrong with him. I'm hoping I can find out what's bothering him."

"Well I don't know that much about dolphins but from what I hear they're supposed to be very smart."

"A lot of sea creatures are smarter than what people give them credit for."

"The thing that saved me must've been really smart." Jellal muttered to himself without thinking.

"What?"Juvia said getting upset.

"Oops!" He said realizing his mistake.

"Jellal! The only reason I gave you access to the library was because I thought you wanted to save endangered sea animals, not hunt for some creature that doesn't even exist."

"It does exist." He defended. "I saw it...Well part of it. But I know it's out there."

"How could you lie to me like that? You are so devious."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

She glared at him.

"Give me a break, I've had a rough week. You know my old man is starting to think I'm crazy."

"Can you blame him?"

"I'm not crazy! Devious and dishonest but not crazy."

"Truthfully I would have preferred you to be crazy instead those two things."

"Look I don't want any trouble, I just want to make things cool with my dad okay? He and my mom are always on my case. Do you have any idea what that's like?"

"No I don't. My parents are gone remember?"

"Oh..." Jellal immediately realized the error of his words and felt remorse. As much as he picked on Juvia, even he felt sorry that she had grown up an orphan. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay." She started to walk away, feeling upset and thinking that he was only faking regret but he stopped her.

"Hey I really am sorry." He told her sincerely. "My mom says sometimes I forget to be considerate of other people and I guess she's right. I know I'm a jerk but I don't want hurt anybody. Really I don't."

"Then why do you do it? I don't understand you Jellal."

"It's complicated."

"It doesn't have to be you know." Just then she saw Gray pull up to take her home. "I gotta go, see you around Jellal."

She left the library and met with Gray at his car. Technically it wasn't his car it was Ur's but Gray drove around in it to pick up Juvia, Romeo, and Chelia from places like school or work.

"So I guess you'll have to fumigate now after speaking with Jellal." Gray joked.

"He's not so bad." Juvia said.

"What are you talking about? He's a total creep."

"Sometimes."

"Sometimes? Try all the time."

"Okay but you know I think if we were get to know him better we'd see that he's actually a nice guy."

"Since when are you interested in Jellal?"

"Well he doesn't have any friends. Real friends that is."

"And it's his own fault for being such a jerk."

"I'm just saying, maybe if he had just one real friend he wouldn't be so mean."

"What and you want to be that one real friend?"

"Maybe I do."

"What? But he's rude and arrogant and stupid."

"He's not stupid Gray. You really need to stop holding such a grudge toward him."

"I am not holding a grudge I'm just being realistic. Even if you did be his friend it wouldn't change a thing."

"You don't know that for sure. Maybe underneath all that arrogance there's loneliness. I think he could be a real nice guy if he wanted to be." 

Gray wondered why Juvia was suddenly so sympathetic toward Jellal. True she was known to extend sympathy and kindness to anyone regardless of who they were but what did Jellal do to gain her sympathy? Just then a thought that he found to be very scary creeped into his mind. Could Jellal be this boyfriend Juvia had been seeing? 

"Um Juvia." He said when they arrived home. 

"Yes." She replied. 

"You know you can tell me anything right?" 

"Of course." 

"So if you had a boyfriend you would tell me right?" 

"Boyfriend? Where's this coming from?" 

"I'm just speaking hypothetically. So would you?" 

"I guess. I don't know." 

"What do you mean you don't know?" 

"I don't know. I mean I guess I would tell you. Can we talk about this later? I have homework to do." 

"Yeah sure." 

With that discussion over, Juvia went upstairs to her room to do her homework. However Gray still felt a little uneasy by this and he wanted to make sure that his fear of her dating Jellal had not come to pass. So the next time Juvia left to see "her mysterious boyfriend" Gray called up Lucy and Erza hoping that they could help him figure out what's going on. 

"Hold on you think that Juvia and Jellal are secretly dating?" Lucy said when Gray told them his thoughts on the subject. 

"I don't think so for sure but the horrible thought of it has crossed my mind." Gray said. 

"That's ridiculous." Erza said. "Juvia considers Jellal to be a nuisance. Why would she date him?" 

"Well she talked about being his friend." Gray said. "And she said that he wasn't all that bad." 

"That's just her being kind. She doesn't like him." 

"Still there's no way of knowing for sure unless we see it for ourselves." Gray said. "In secret that is." 

"You mean spy on her?" Lucy said. "That's wrong." 

"You didn't have a problem when we spied on you." Erza said. 

"That's different. I asked you to and Gray why do you care if those two are dating or not?" 

"Isn't it obvious? He's jealous." 

"I am not jealous!" Gray denied. "I just don't think that Juvia should be dating some snotty, stuck up, rich boy who doesn't really care about her feelings." 

"And you're jealous." 

"I am not!"

"Gray, Juvia would hate it if we spied on her like this." Lucy said. 

"Not if we don't tell her." Erza said. 

"Erza you can't be serious." 

"I'm not too keen on it either but we both know psycho here isn't going to drop this until he gets confirmation that they're not together so let's just humor him." 

"Fine." Lucy sighed. "But I don't like it. So where is Juvia anyway?" 

"According to Ur she's at the Marine Park." Gray said. 

"Then that won't work for us." Erza said. "We might get wet while trying to stay out of sight so we'll need someone else to do the spying for us." 

"Who?" Lucy asked. 

"An expert." 

"What expert?" Gray asked. 

The expert Erza was speaking of was Chelia. She was a gifted sneak which was often considered annoying to them but for once it would prove useful . 

"All we need is for you to watch Juvia at the park and get some pictures." Erza told Chelia. 

"Why?" 

"So Gray will know for sure that Juvia doesn't have a boyfriend and calm down." 

"Oh no she definitely has a boyfriend. I heard her on the phone talking to him. She said that she couldn't wait to see him and that she enjoyed all the time she spent with him." 

"What?!" Gray said nervously gripping his glass of juice.

"Uh-huh and last night I heard her say that she thought giving him some kisses would make him feel better." 

At that moment his intense grip broke the cup to pieces, spilling the juice which luckily didn't touch Erza or Lucy. 

"Gray!" Erza cried. 

"I'm sorry." He said. "But I...I think I need to sit down for a minute." 

He went into the living room and sat in the chair. 

"Well that was a bit of an overreaction." Chelia said. 

"Chelia what were you doing listening in on Juvia's phone calls?" Lucy asked suspiciously. 

"Uh..." Chelia blushed upon realizing her mistake. "I'm curious about her social life." 

"More like nosy about it." 

"I'm sorry but who's asking me to spy on her and take pictures again?" 

"Touche. But we're not doing it to be nosy, well Erza and I aren't. We just want Gray to ease up. I mean you've seen him, he's going nuts." 

"Good point. I'll get you pictures." Chelia stuck the camera in her bag and went outside to go to the marine park.


	26. Chapter 26

All day Chelia followed Juvia around the marine park with her camera ready to take any interesting pictures. So far she didn't see Juvia do anything interesting that is until she stopped to get a snow cone and lost track of her for a moment. When Chelia caught up with her she spotted her from a distance, talking with Jellal. She could see them but she couldn't hear them. 

"Oh hi Jellal, what are you doing back here?" She asked him. 

"I heard about your dolphin friend Dudley and I decided to do a little research on dolphins and I think I have a theory on what's wrong with him." 

"Really? What's that?" 

"I think his problem isn't physical. I think it's emotional." 

"Emotional?" 

"According to the book I read dolphins are very social and very emotionally attached. Maybe something's upset him and that's why he won't eat." 

"I never thought of that. I'll inform Mr. Neekis on your theory right away. Wait why do you want to help Dudley?" 

"Let's just say that I have a soft spot for dolphins." 

"Well your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you." 

She moved to walk away but she accidentally slipped on some wet rocks that were used for decoration. She fell forward and right into Jellal's arms when he went to her aid. 

"Whoa are you okay?" Jellal asked. 

"Yes I'm fine." She said getting back to her feet. "I've always been so clumsy." 

"You sure you're alright?" 

"Yes I am. Thank you." 

He was just stopping her from falling but from where Chelia stood it looked like an embrace. She took a picture and then went back home to show them to Juvia's friends.

"I guess it's true." Lucy said looking at the picture.

"This isn't right!" Gray said. "She must be delusional! Or sick! Very sick!"

"Or maybe she just likes him."

"How? How could she like him? What could she possibly see in him? Besides his money."

"Come on Gray, you know Juvia better than that. She would never go out with someone just for their money."

"Well what other reason could she have for dating him?"

"Well he's not bad looking." Erza said. Gray and Lucy looked at her like she had been replaced by some freaky clone. "What? He's a rude and arrogant jerk but you have to admit he is handsome."

"You have a point there." Lucy said.

"So she's dating him because he's good looking? Well what about other more important qualities? Like a brain?!"

"I don't agree with her tastes in men but it's her life." Erza said. "If she wants to date him who are we to stop her."

"He's gotta be using her for something." Gray said. "Jellal just does not date girls like Juvia."

"What do you mean girls like Juvia?"

"You know sincere girls who are kind and thoughtful and caring. Girls who aren't fake and pretentious and nasty like Minerva. He's too dumb to appreciate someone like that."

"So Juvia's too good for him? Is that it?"

"Yes."

"Wow Gray I didn't know you thought of her that way."

He blushed and made a look as if he had said too much.

"Well she's my friend...My longest friend and I...I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"Right." 

"As much as I hate to stand in the way of Juvia's relationship I think we should try to talk her out of it." Lucy said.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked.

"Well Jellal is looking for us. Dating Juvia might bring him closer to discovering our secret."

"Oh yeah I didn't think about that."

"We'll talk to her about it tomorrow." 

"Okay and while you two plan for that I will inform Ur of who Juvia's new boyfriend is." Gray said.

"Why?" Erza asked.

"Because Ur doesn't like us being around bad influences and Jellal is the very definition of a bad influence. I guarantee you once she learns that Juvia is dating Jellal she'll forbid her from seeing him."

One hour later...

"What do you mean you support their relationship?!" Gray shouted in shock upon seeing Ur's reaction to the news.

"I'll admit he's not exactly my first choice as a boyfriend for Juvia but I've met his parents and they're nice people. I'm sure he's a very decent boy." Ur said.

"No he's not! He's made my life miserable since third grade!"

"You mean he's that boy who was always picking on you?"

"Yes."

"Huh...Are you sure that it's him who Juvia's dating?"

"Yes."

"Strange. Why would Juvia go out with someone who bullies you?"

"I don't know! But that's what I want to know!"

"Hmm..." She thought. "I don't think she would do something like that but I will talk to her when she comes home." 

"You will?" 

"Yes but only because recently she's been neglecting her chores and school work to hang out with him." 

"Good and when Jellal comes by you can tell him off." 

"Now wait just a minute. I'm just going to talk to her about working out an agreement where she can still date him but her school work and home work come first. I won't forbid her to see him." 

"Why not?" 

"Gray she's sixteen. She's entitled to have a romantic relationship if she wants to, she's not a child. Also it's none of your business who she dates and frankly I don't like you meddling in her dating life. Now why don't you go on and get started on your chores?" 

"Fine." He groaned. 

Later that afternoon when she came home Ur pulled her aside to have a little talk with her. 

"Have I done something wrong Ur?" Juvia asked. 

"No it's just that recently you've been neglecting some of your chores and school work lately." 

"I know. I'm sorry but I promise you it's for a good reason." 

"I understand it may seem like a good reason right now but education and work must come before romance." 

"Huh? What do you mean romance?" 

"I mean you and your boyfriend." 

"What? What boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend." 

"Juvia there's no use denying it. I have photo evidence." 

"What photo? I'm telling you I don't have a boyfriend." 

"Then where have you been going early in the morning and late the evening? What has you so distracted that you're neglecting your priorities?" 

"I've been taking care of a sick dolphin." 

"Now Juvia don't lie to me. You know how I feel about lying." 

"I'm not lying." 

"If you're not going to tell me the truth then I'm afraid I can't allow you to do as you please. You're grounded until you're ready to be honest." 

"But Ur-" 

"Not buts. Now I want you to go to your room and you may come out when you're ready to tell me the whole story." 

"This is crazy." She said before going upstairs to her room. Just then her phone started ringing, it was Mr. Neekis. "Hello?...Oh hi how are things?" 

Chelia was walking by and decided to listen in on the conversation. 

"Sorry to bother you Juvia but Dudley is sick. He has a high fever." 

"Oh no." 

"Would you mind coming down to the marine park?" 

"I don't know I... I'm a little indisposed of at the moment." 

"I've already called the vet and he thinks that Dudley might need surgery." 

"Oh really? Do you think he'll be able to perform it?" 

"Perform what?" Chelia wondered. 

"Okay I'll come over right now...You want me to meet you at the dolphin exhibit or the infirmary?...Okay the exhibit. Don't worry nothing will keep me away." 

Confused, Chelia opened the door only to find Juvia gone and the window wide open. 

"Uh-oh! Ur! Gray!" She called running downstairs. 

"What is it?" Ur asked. 

"Juvia's gone." 

"What do you mean she's gone?" Gray asked. 

"I mean she's run away to meet with Jellal. They're eloping." 

"What?!" Gray shouted in horror. 

"Now calm down." Ur said. "Chelia there must be some misunderstanding." 

"I heard her on the phone. She talked about some guy being able to perform and meeting with Jellal at the Marine park and she said that nothing could keep her away. It's elopement." 

"Alright that's it!" Gray said heading toward the door angrily. 

"Now Gray don't do anything in haste." Ur said. 

"Haste?! I'm not going to do anything in haste! I'm going to take all the time in the world to beat Jellal to a pulp!" 

And just like that he stormed out. 

"Oh dear. This won't end well." Ur said. 

Back at the Marine Park Juvia had run into Jellal and convinced him to come with her to explain to Me. Neekis about the information he found on dolphins. 

"You think Dudley's problem might be emotional?" Mr. Neekis asked when Jellal told him his theory. 

"I'm not a marine biologist but if I had to guess then yeah." Jellal said. 

"What could be upsetting him?" 

Juvia glanced to the side and took notice of a second dolphin that was in a tank next to Dudley's. 

"Hey when did that dolphin get in?" She asked. 

"She's a rescue." Mr. Neekis said. 

"She?" 

"Uh-huh. We brought her in around the same time we brought Dudley in." 

"Really? Mr. Neekis would you mind putting them in the same tank?" 

"Why?" 

"It's just an experiment and I think it might provide us with the solution to our problem." 

So Mr. Neekis moved the female dolphin into Dudley's tank. Instantly he perked up and started to playfully swim with her. 

"You cheeky fella." Mr. Neekis said. 

"Oh isn't that cute. He wanted a girlfriend." Juvia said with a smile. "Aren't they gorgeous together?" 

"I have to admit they are cute." Jellal said. 

"You know if it weren't you we probably would never know what was wrong with Dudley." 

"Nah. You're a smart girl Juvia. You would have figured it out eventually." 

"Thanks. You know you can be really nice when you want to be." 

"Don't tell anyone okay." 

She giggled and rolled her eyes. Then one of the dolphins swam by splashing the water, in her haste to avoid getting wet she accidentally knocked herself into Jellal causing them to fall over with him on top of her. 

"What's the matter with you?" He asked. 

"I'm sorry!" She apologized. "Uh oh I think your hair is caught in my necklace." 

"Ow!" 

"Hold still I'll get it out." 

At that moment Gray arrived and when he saw Jellal on top of Juvia with his head seemingly in her neck, his anger reached the point of no return. 

"There we go." Juvia said once she untangled his hair from her chain. 

"You need to be more careful." Jellal said standing up. 

"I know." She said doing the same thing. She then saw Gray bolting toward them. "Gray? What are you doing here?" 

But instead of answering he punched Jellal right across his face and tackled him which sent them falling into the water. However that didn't stop him trying to beat Jellal up. 

"Gray!" Juvia screamed. "Gray what are you doing?! Stop it! Stop it!" 

"Get off of me you freak!" Jellal demanded. 

"I can deal with you insulting me everyday and throwing me in the dumpster! But this! Oh no! You're gonna pay this time pretty boy!" Gray shouted. 

"What did I do?! Ow! Stop it you idiot! You're drowning me!" 

"Good because I can't reach your neck to strangle you!" 

No matter how hard Juvia pleaded, Gray wouldn't stop and a crowd soon formed. Eventually Mr. Neekis jumped into the water and broke up the fight. When Juvia explained everything to Gray he apologized to Jellal and Jellal accepted it after he gave Gray a punch in the face but that punch was nothing compared to Juvia's anger. 

"I can't believe you did this! What were you thinking?" She said. 

"I'm sorry. I misunderstood." 

"Then why couldn't you talk to me about it instead of doing something like this? Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?! You embarrassed me! And Jellal!" 

"Okay I went too far but after what Chelia told when she watching you-

"Watching me?!" 

He covered his mouth when he realized his mistake.

"You had her spy on me?" 

"No!...Yes...I uh...I can explain." 

"How could you?! Do you not have the courage to talk to me about anything?! You just have to spy on me?! Violate my privacy?!" 

"Juvia I'm really sorry!" He said with sincere guilt. 

"I never wanna speak to you again!" She cried before running off in anger. Leaving him soaking with water and regret.


	27. Chapter 27

Upon arriving home Juvia went straight into her room, threw herself on to her bed, and started crying. Ur had gone out to look for her earlier and after talking with Mr. Neekis, she was relieved when he confirmed that Juvia was telling the truth about helping a sick dolphin but worried when he explained what happened when Gray arrived. By the time she came back to the house she found Gray sitting on the porch, drenched and hanging his head in shame. 

"Gray." She said giving him a look of disapproval. 

"Oh I did it again Ur. I acted hastily." He said. 

"Mmm-hmm and whenever you act in haste disaster is just around the corner. Is Jellal's father threatening to press charges?" 

"No. Jellal accepted my apology after he punched me in the jaw." 

"Serves you right. How's Juvia?" 

"She hates me now." 

"I'm sure that's not true." 

"Yes it is. She said that she never wanted to speak to me again. She hates me." 

"No Gray. She couldn't hate you even if she wanted to. Believe me I know." 

"I didn't mean to embarrass her. I just...I just didn't want Jellal to hurt her." 

"Still her bodyguard I see." 

"What?" 

"When you two were children you always talked about how much she annoyed you and yet you would never let her out of your sight and you would always chase away the other kids who bullied her. You called yourself her bodyguard. Said it was your job to protect her." 

"I really said that." 

"Yes and some nights she would sneak into your room and crawl into bed with you."

"That I remember but it got on my nerves."

"Then why didn't you ever complain to me? If I had known earlier I would have stopped it sooner." 

"Well...She...She...Whenever she came into my room at night she said she was scared. Scared of a storm or a bad dream she had. I guess I just didn't have the heart to tell her to go away. You know it stopped once we hit puberty." 

"I know but you know she still goes to you whenever she's scared." 

"I know. But she probably won't go to me for anything anymore. I messed up real bad this time." 

"Yes you did. But not so bad that she would never forgive you." 

"How do you know?" 

"Let's just say that I've been in a similar situation. When I was younger I knew someone who cared a great deal about me and some would say he cared too much. One day he did something really stupid, something that really embarrassed me, and I was so angry that I told him I would hate him for the rest of my life." 

"Did you?" 

"No. No matter hard I tried and believe me I tried, but I just couldn't hate him and eventually I forgave him. She'll forgive you, she just needs to understand that despite how stupid and idiotic your actions were, your heart was in the right place. Now why don't you go upstairs and take a bath? You smell like sardines." 

Gray did as he was told while Ur went into the kitchen for a few minutes. After that she went upstairs and gave a gentle knock on the door to Juvia's bedroom. 

"Go away Gray!" Juvia cried. "I said I never wanted to speak to you again!" 

"It's me." Ur said walking in. "I made you something to eat." 

"I'm not hungry." 

"Are you sure? They're mochi snow rabbits. You're favorite." She sat down next to Juvia on her bed and offered one of them to her. She couldn't resist the mochi treat that was made to look like a rabbit. "Do you remember the first time I made you these?" 

"Yes. It was when Gray and I first came to live with you. You made us some mochi to cheer us up but I missed my parents too much to eat anything so you made them look like snow rabbits to make me smile." 

"And it worked didn't it?" 

"Yes." 

"And ever since then whenever you cry I would make you these to cheer you up. Is it helping this time?" 

"A little." 

"I'm sorry about not believing you earlier. You're an honest girl, you'd never lie to me." 

"It's okay. At least you didn't do anything to humiliate me or spy on me."

"Oh yes I know what Gray did." 

"Why would he do this to me?" 

"I don't think he did it to hurt you. He was just worried that someone was trying to take advantage of you."

"If he was worried then why couldn't he just talk to me about it?" 

"Because he was a teenage boy and pretty much all teenage boys act before they think. But you have to believe that Gray would never do anything to hurt you. Not on purpose anyway. He cares so much about you." 

"No he doesn't. He's annoyed by me. When we were kids he couldn't stand me." 

"That was just an act. You know how little boys are, they think it's weird to like little girls." 

"Still I'm just a pest to him." 

Ur sighed. 

"That boy cares about you more than you realize." 

"How can you be so sure?" 

"Well...Gray wouldn't like it if I told you this but I think you should know." 

"Know what?" 

"Do you remember when that couple from Clover town came here and decided to adopt him?" 

"Yes but they changed their mind." 

"And do you know why they changed their mind?" 

"No. But Gray always said they thought he was too much to handle." 

"Yes that's what he said but that's not why they left him." 

"I don't understand." 

"At the time you and Gray were the only kids in my care. Gray was worried that if he had been adopted you would be all alone. He begged that couple to adopt you too. But they only wanted one child, a boy. So Gray decided not to go with them. He just couldn't bear leaving you alone." 

"He really did that?" 

"Yes he did." 

"Why didn't he ever tell me?" 

"He thought that you would feel guilty. That you would blame yourself but it was his choice to stay behind. He told me that he would rather stay in foster care with you then be adopted into a family without you." 

Juvia found herself being greatly touched by this knowledge. Her anger toward him earlier vanished completely and now she wanted to see him more than anything else. 

"Don't get me wrong what he did was stupid but he only did it because he cares so much...And maybe because he was a little jealous." 

"Jealous? What could he be jealous of?" 

"Well he didn't like the idea of you having a boyfriend." 

"You mean he was jealous over me? But why? I don't understand." 

"I guess over the years he's started to look at you differently." She smiled. 

The next day was a weekend so there would be no school. Juvia went to look for Gray as soon as she woke up and she found him at his special fishing spot. He didn't just go there to fish he also went there to think about stuff and clear his head. 

"I knew I'd find you here." She said. 

"I thought you were never going to speak to me again." He said. 

"I know. I lied." She sat next to him. 

"Look I really am sorry. I just...When Chelia told me you were eloping and I saw him on top of you I just...I just couldn't think. He's harassed me pretty much everyday of my life and I can deal with him but I can't deal with him hurting you." 

"I know and I think it's awfully sweet that you feel that way." 

"You do?" 

"Yes. I still think it was dumb of you to just attack him but I understand and I forgive you." 

"Really?" 

"Really." 

"I was worried that you were going to hate me." 

"I could never hate you. After all you're my best friend in whole world." 

"And you're mine." 

They smiled at each other and she placed her hand over his. He blushed a little but he didn't pull his hand away. 

"But from now on when you're worried about me just talk to me okay? Don't do anything like that again alright?" She said.

"Alright." 

"And will you respect my privacy and never send Chelia to spy in me again?" 

"Yes I will respect your privacy and I'll never spy on you or send anyone to spy on you again." 

"Good. By the way you're lucky that Jellal was so understanding about all this. You know he could have had you thrown in jail for attacking him." 

"Yeah. I'm actually surprised that he didn't call the cops on me. I guess you were right about him not being such a bad person. But you're not into him are you?" 

"No. I think Jellal can be a good person but he's not my type." 

"What a relief." 

"Besides I've already got my heart set on another boy. One ten times better than him." 

"Who?" 

"Sorry but that's my little secret." She said with a mischievous smile. 

"Oh come on who is he?" 

"No. I'm not telling." 

"I can be trusted. I keep all your secrets." 

"Okay I'll tell you." She said. "If you can catch me." 

She then pushed him down and started to run away. 

"Hey that's not fair! You know I'm not athletic!" He called as he chased after her. 

"I know!" She giggled. 

"You never play fair Juvia!" 

"Who told you life was fair?!" 

From a distance Ur chuckled as she watched them chase each other around and around the beach. She was glad to see that they had made up. She's hate to see two people who were so close be torn apart by a misunderstanding. 

"Oh Alec were we ever that happy and carefree?" She thought to herself in a bitter sweet manner.


	28. Chapter 28

Another full moon was coming but this time the girls were determined to be prepared. They met up after to school discuss what their plans would be for tonight.

"This full moon thing makes me nervous." Juvia said.

"We'll be fine. You two just need to control yourselves a little better this time." Erza said.

"You're not immune to it you know Erza." Lucy said feeling irritated.

"I'm pretty sure I can resist the big bad moon. I did it twice."

"I'm pretty sure we all can." Lucy said. "We just have to be prepared and I really wish I could find my aunt Anna. She knows a lot about this stuff so she could help us."

"She's not at her boat?" Juvia asked.

"No."

"Oh this is a bad sign." Juvia said. "A very bad sign. There's going to be trouble tonight."

"I'm pretty sure we'll be fine tonight." Lucy said. "We'll have a sleepover at my house and my dad will be away on a business trip so if anything does happen at least he won't be around to see it."

"I'm going to go back home to get my things ready." Erza said. "I'll be here before dark."

Erza left Lucy's house and hurried over to where she lived. She packed her bag with pajamas, a tooth brush, extra clothes, and sleeping bag then went back over to Lucy's. On her way there she spotted Jellal talking on the phone.

"Dad I am not crazy! I know what I saw out there!" He argued. "Please don't talk to me like I'm some little kid...Why can't you just believe me?!...Yes sir...Bye."

He hung up.

"You stupid jerk!" He said angrily before sticking his phone back in his pocket. He turned around and saw Erza staring at him. "What are you looking at?!"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to stare. You just seemed so upset that I-"

"Look what's going on in my life is none of your business! Now beat it!"

Erza did exactly what he demanded though she couldn't help but feel sorry for Jellal. She never thought that she would ever feel sympathy for him but how could she not given his situation. A lot of the kids at school mocked him, even his parents thought he was nuts. Part of her wanted to tell him the truth just so he could know for sure that he wasn't crazy but Lord knows what Jellal would do with that information if he had it. It would probably land all three of them in the nearest government lab.

"I'm really sorry." She apologized to him in her thoughts. As annoying as she found him to be she never really wanted to do anything to him that would upset him this bad.

"I just wish there was a way that we could prove to everyone that he's not crazy without exposing our secret." Erza told her friends when she got back to Lucy's house.

"Well there isn't." Lucy said. "Erza I know how you feel, we all feel guilty but we can't tell anyone and since when do you care about Jellal?"

"I don't care about him but I can sympathize with him."

"So can I." Juvia said. "You know some of his so called friends are starting to turn on him."

"I'm not surprised." Lucy said. "Laxus and Minerva are about as faithful as Judas Iscariot. But lot's of people get bullied and have friends turn on them."

"Yes but not all of them have a parents and families to help them out through this difficult time." Juvia defended. "For as long as I can remember Jellal's parents have always had trouble being there for him. Especially his father. I think that's one of the reasons why he bullies other people so much. I think he feels that there's no one who really cares about him."

"I wouldn't go that far." Erza said. "I mean his dad does buy him all that expensive stuff."

"But that's not love that's bribery."

"I'm just saying that Jellal's dad does a lot more for him than my da-... I mean than some fathers do for their children."

Lucy and Juvia looked at Erza skeptically when they noticed that she had trailed off and changed her phrase.

"What was that?" Lucy asked her.

"What was what?" Erza replied.

"What you were about to say."

"I wasn't about to say anything. I said what I wanted to say."

"But you were about to something about yourself. About your own dad maybe?"

"No. I wasn't going to say anything about him."

"You know you don't really talk about your dad that much. We know that you live with your mom but you never told us what happened to your dad. Did he die?"

"Look I really don't like to discuss him and neither does my mother. We both think it's best for everyone if we just never mention him. You can understand that can you?"

"Of course we can." Juvia said. "We know we're coming from. To this day I still have trouble talking about my parents."

"And my mom." Lucy added. "We've all lost someone important to us when we were little. We understand."

"It's not exactly the same situation with you guys." Erza said walking away from them.

"Erza we're sorry if we upset you." Lucy said.

"No it's cool." Erza said. "Trust me. It doesn't bother me that bad. Listen since we're basically going to be sealed up all night I think I'll get some air while I still can. By myself if you guys don't mind?"

"Sure." The two of them said.

Erza then left the living room.

"Do you believe that she's really okay on that subject?" Lucy asked Juvia.

"I don't think so." Juvia said. "If she did then it wouldn't bother her to talk about it."

"You know it might be my imagination but Erza doesn't seem to want to open up about how she feels on anything. Have you noticed that?"

"Yes I have. Has she always been like that?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Her sister might."

"Yeah but let's not question her. Erza probably be pretty steamed if she found out we were invading her personal life."

"Oh like how you guys invaded mine last week?" Juvia said raising eyebrow. "When you sent Chelia to spy on me?"

"That's different! We didn't want to invade your privacy. We just wanted to get Gray off our backs."

"Uh-huh. Right."

"It's true and it was Erza's idea to use Chelia."

"Whatever."

Erza went outside on the balcony to get some air before it got dark, that usually made her feel better whenever this subject came up. She appreciated their compassion but they could never understand how she felt about her father. Lucy's mother and Juvia's parents died which meant that they sincerely loved their daughters and couldn't help leaving them but it wasn't at all like that with Erza's father.


	29. Chapter 29

When it started to get dark Gray came by to help the girls "moon proof" the house as he put it. They covered up every window, knook, and cranny in the house so that no moonlight could get in and for extra measures they made sure that none of the curtains had any holes in them.

"There." He said finishing up on covering the last window. "We can all sleep easy now."

"We?" The girls said.

"Okay I admit it's a little weird but keep in mind I will not go crazy if I happen to see the full moon."

"Forget it Gray, I promised my dad no boys." Lucy said.

"So this is the thanks I get? I gotta say it hurts ladies."

"It's nothing personal Gray but if my dad finds out I let a boy stay over while he's out of town he'll never let me leave the house again."

"Besides how do we know you won't try anything when we go to sleep?" Erza asked.

"Me? Try anything funny? Please since when have I ever over stepped by boundaries?"

"Need I remind you of the little make out session you had with Juvia during the last full moon?"

"Erza!" Juvia shrieked as she and Gray both started blushing. "You promised me that you would never speak of that again!"

"And that doesn't count!" Gray said nervously. "I was under a spell and so was she! It's not like I wanted to kiss her! Not that there's anything wrong with kissing you Juvia! I just...I....I-I-I-I-"

"I think you should leave now Gray." Lucy said ushering him toward the front door. "Before you say something you'll regret."

At that moment the full moon was rising but Lucy deduced that so she left the room before Gray opened the door. Unfortunately some moonlight creaked in, bounced off the reflective surface of a vase, and appeared in a mirror which Erza happened to be looking into. At first she tried to will herself to loo away from it but in the end she was just as helpless to resist it's pull as Lucy and Juvia were. She started to walk around in a daze and thoughtlessly went into the kitchen where she opened up the fridge. From inside moisture started to condescend and water dripped on to her hand. 

"Hey Erza what do you think of this dress?" Lucy said as she looked through a magazine. "It's for sale next week. Do you think that I should buy it for the festival?"

Erza didn't answer.

"Erza? Is everything okay?"

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine." She closed the fridge and went back into the living room with Lucy but suddenly she started to feel very hot. She grabbed one of the bottles of the soda and started to chug it down. 

"Thirsty?" Lucy said when she put the empty bottle down. 

"Maybe a little." Erza replied nervously. She began to sweat and turn red in the face. 

"Erza are you feeling okay?" Juvia asked. 

"Of course. Why do you ask?" 

"You look so red. Are you getting a fever?" 

"No I'm not." 

Erza moved toward the other bottles of drinks and the liquids inside started boiling and bubbling until the kids popped off and the drinks came up like geyser. 

"What the-" Lucy said. "What's going on?" 

"It's not my fault!" Erza said quickly. 

"Nobody said it was." 

Her sweating and redness continued to increase. Lucy and Juvia were beginning to notice that the room had become very hot. 

"Who turned on the heat?" Juvia said. 

"No one. My dad says I'm forbidden to touch the thermostat and he always keeps it at a cooling temperature until winter time." Lucy explained. 

The girls looked back at Erza who was now shaking and had a look on her face that said she was hiding something. Was she under the effects of the full moon? They didn't know it could have happened since they sealed off every opening in the house but what other explanation could it be? 

"Erza." Lucy said. "Did you look at the full moon?" 

"No." She denied. "No. I wouldn't do that. Not after seeing what it did to you two and...And I...I..I.." 

She backed up against the fridge and suddenly it started shaking, as if what inside of it was either boiling or melting. 

"Alright I did look but I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" She admitted. 

"It's okay." Lucy assured her. "It's fine. We've all been there. The important thing is not to panic." 

"How can I not panic? I mean look what's happening?! I don't what's wrong with me or what I'm gonna do!" 

"Easy. Calm down." Lucy said gently. "Why don't we all sit down and take a deep breath?" 

Lucy moved to gently grab Erza's hand so she could lead her over to the couch but when she touched her skin the extreme heat radiating off of it burned her. 

"Ow!" Lucy cried taking her hand away from Erza. "You just burned me." 

"I'm so sorry! I would never hurt you Lucy! Never!" Lucy said like a child who had accidentally broken something. 

"It's alright Erza. I know you didn't mean it but we really need to cool you down." 

"I'll get an ice pack." Juvia said. 

"And I'll get you some water so you'll stay hydrated." 

Lucy grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and gave it to Erza which she chugged down like with the soda. But when Juvia laid the ice pack on her head all the ice in the pack melted. Plan B was to get an electric fan and sit Erza in front of it. But despite this the heat from her body kept growing stronger. More things around her started boiling and melting. 

"It's all my fault! I can't stop this! I don't know how!" Erza cried. 

"Erza you need to stay calm." Juvia said. 

"I need to leave." 

"No way!" Lucy said. 

"Don't you see? I'm a danger to you all!"

"I think you're overreacting a little." Juvia said. 

"No I'm not. I can feel a fire coming. A really terrible fire coming and I can't stop it." 

"You're just letting the moon get to you." 

"No! I'll hurt you and I don't want to hurt you! You're my only friends!" 

"You're not going to hurt us." Lucy said. 

"Yes I am! It's what I always do!" 

"Erza please sit down and breathe. Getting all upset like this won't help." 

"No! I can't! I'm leaving!" 

"No don't!" 

"Erza stop!" Juvia protested. 

But Erza went running out the door and out of sight before the girls could stop her. 


	30. Chapter 30

The girls started to follow after her but the had been the door knob so hot that they couldn't even touch it. Lucy quickly used her ice powers to cool it off then started to turn it but when they opened the door Gray came right inside.

"Whoa, whoa, ladies back it up!" He said ushering them away from the doorway.

"Gray what are you doing here? Where's Erza?" Lucy asked.

"She's gone." He said. "She ran right by me and I saw her jump off the nearest dock."

"Well we can't leave her out there!" Lucy and Juvia moved to go outside again but stopped in their tracks when they once again became ensnared by the moonlight. Gray quickly shut the door before they became too out of it.

"So much for independent women." He said.

"Gray." Lucy said once she had regained her senses. "What were you doing in my front yard?"

"Um...Camping?" He said blushing. "You should really try it sometime."

"You were spying on us weren't you?"

"Okay yes but I was worried. You know how bad things get when one of you go all moon crazy. I just wanted to make sure nothing happened and it's a good thing I did camp out because I managed to prevent any disasters from taking place tonight."

"You let Erza get away."

"Okay one minor setback but I'm pretty sure if I had tried to stop her she would have set me on fire like she did to that bush."

"Hold on she set fire to a bush?" Juvia asked.

"Just as she was running by it. It was really freaky."

"Did you put it out?"

"Yeah I did."

"This is bad." Lucy said. "This is very bad. If she's starting fires who knows how much damage she'll cause."

"And she might hurt herself or somebody else." Juvia added. 

"We'll let's not panic." Gray said. "Right now she's swimming around in water so she can't really light anything."

"But where could she be going?" 

Just then the doorbell rang. Gray went to answer it, Lucy and Juvia hoped that it was Erza who had come back but it wasn't however they were relieved to see who it was. It was Anna.

"Where were you?" Lucy asked her. "I looked everywhere for you."

"I'm sorry but my boat broke down and I was out looking for a proper motor." She apologized. "Judging by the fact that there are only two of you here and that it's almost a hundred degrees in this house, I'm going to assume that Erza is the one who fell victim to the moon spell."

"Yes." Lucy confirmed.

Anna sighed.

"It's amazing how sometimes history will repeat itself. I remember when my friend became moonstruck."

"What happened to her?"

"Pretty much what happened to Erza. She has the most dangerous powers of all of you, just as my friend had the most dangerous powers out of our group. She was terribly frightened when it happened to her. It was the first time I had ever seen her genuinely scared."

"You know I'd like to know what the heck this all means." Gray said. "What does the full moon turn the girls crazy."

"I don't know all the answers but I do know this. For centuries mermaids have always had a dark and light side to them." 

"A dark and light side?" Lucy said.

"If you know about the legends and tales of mermaids, the ones who are good, soul seeking, and have a loving heart then you must know about the darker ones as well. The ones who feed on human flesh, the ones who used their charms to lure sailors to their deaths, and the ones who cause storms and natural disasters to sink ships. You three are good and well meaning most of the time but when you are effected by the full moon it turns you into a mermaid's darker counterpart. For example Lucy became the kind of mermaid that is ravenous and animalistic with an appetite for flesh but Juvia on the other hand became the kind that is seductive and mischievous who loved to see men suffer."

"But I never ate people." Lucy said.

"And I didn't lure anyone to their death." Juvia said.

"That's because in your hearts you're good so your darker tendencies are toned down to a less harmful degree. To where Lucy craves the flesh of fish instead of humans and Juvia merely drives men to humiliate themselves instead killing themselves."

"But what's it going to do to Erza?" Juvia asked.

"Her dark mermaid counterpart would be the one who causes natural disasters and storms. You know sinking ships and flooding lands."

"Is she going to do that?"

"No. Because of her good nature the worst she'll do is cause property damage. If she's calm that is."

"And if she's not?"

"She may start a few fires."

"Oh that's so not good."

"We have to find her now." Lucy said.

"Do you have any idea where she could have gone."

"She could be anywhere." Anna said. "But the only safe place is the moon pool on Tendrou Island."

"Excuse me lady but this whole yoda act might work on these two but I'm not buying it." Gray said.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Anna said.

"Anna this is my friend Gray Fullbuster. He knows our secret but he's been big help to us." Juvia said.

"Oh..." Anna scanned him with her eyes. "He's a scholar isn't he? I mean judging from his diminished physique and large forehead, he's clearly suited for nothing else."

"Hey!" Gray said insulted.

"Well I wouldn't say he's not suited for anything else but yes Gray is very smart." Juvia said. "One of the smartest students in our school."

"And he's your friend dear?"

"Yes."

"Let me guess you two are very close aren't you?"

"Yes we are. But not in that way. We're just really good friends. In fact he's one of my best friends so he can be trusted."

"I see." She said looking at Gray. "Again it is amazing how history will sometimes repeat itself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gray asked.

"Oh you'll find out eventually."

"Well that aside, what you just said about the island doesn't make any sense. Water and moonlight are what bring on this madness and now you're telling them to go to a pool of water full of moonlight on nights like this."

"I can't explain it. I just know from personal experience."

"And we're just supposed to accept that?"

"Yes dear because it's the truth."

"But it doesn't make sense. It's a illogical."

"You will find young man that there are a lot of things in this world that logic cannot explain." She then mumbled to herself. "Good lord he's worse than Alec."

"So how do we get to the moon pool without being effected?" Lucy asked. "There has to be way right?"

"There is. My friends I came up with it in case one of us ever ran off while under the effects. Now do exactly as I tell you."


	31. Chapter 31

Just as Anna had deduced, Erza did go to Tendrou Island. She didn't know why but she just felt the urge to go there. Upon arriving the poor read head started to have an emotional break down which led to almost anything that came near her to catch on fire. She tried to put it out but she only made it worse by causing the flames to rise. And to make matters worse who should be riding a motor boat out in the waters of this island during this hour? But Jellal. He had another argument with his father and decided to go investigate about the creature that saved him at the last place he saw it. As expected he couldn't help but notice the fire coming from within the island.

"What in the world?" He steered his boat toward the shore, got out of it, and went toward the source of the smoke. He found Erza sitting alone between some burning trees, in position he had never seen her in. Normally when she saw her she was either very confident, annoyed, or mischievous but right now she appeared vulnerable, scared, and even a little sad.

"Erza." He said calmly approaching her. "Are you okay?"

"Go away." She said meekly.

"What's going on? What's with all the fire? Are you hurt?"

"So what if I am? Why do you care?" 

"Hey I may like to cause a little trouble for some people but I'm not heartless." When she didn't move away after he came closer to her, he sat down next to her. "Why are you hurting? What's the matter?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it okay? Why are you even here anyway?"

"I had a fight with my dad about that whole creature thing I saw and I thought maybe if I found something here where it saved me I could make him eat his words. Get him to stop being a jerk."

"You shouldn't be so hateful toward your father."

"I'm not hateful toward him and for the record he can be a jerk. He never listens to me and he always puts down my ideas. It's like nothing I ever do is good enough for him."

"But at least he's there!" She cried. Now she had tears in her eyes which took Jellal completely by surprise. "At least he didn't take off and leave you and your mom!"

She looked away from him and buried her face in her knees while in a fetal position. At first Jellal wasn't sure how to react. He wasn't used to seeing someone sad. At least not sad like this. A sadness that comes from a deep rooted pain that the person does everything they can to keep hidden away. The only other person he knew was like that was himself. 

"Erza I...I've never seen you cry before." He said. 

"Yeah? So? I can't help it if I'm crying okay?! I just can't do this anymore!"

"Do what anymore?"

"This! Everything! It's all getting too hard and no one understands! No one really hears me! No one really sees me! I'm just alone!"

"I know how that feels." He said feeling empathetic to her situation. "You try to tell everyone how you really feel or how you really think and it's like you have no voice. You wouldn't think it but I deal with that a lot."

She looked at him her faltering brown eyes. In that moment she suddenly felt drawn to him. Like she could feel a connection with him and it just kept pulling her and pulling her, no matter how hard she tried to resist she just couldn't stop herself from being pulled. Then she did something that caused Jellal to reach a whole new level of being surprised.

She leaned over and kissed him right on his lips. At first he didn't respond because he just couldn't believe she was doing this to him. As far as he knew, she hated his guts. But he couldn't deny that the kiss did feel nice. A lot nicer than he thought a kiss from her would feel. Unfortunately that nice feeling didn't last long. Next thing he knew he felt his insides were boiling. His mouth was on fire, his skin broke out in seething sweat, and his face was red all over. It was too hot. It became too much for him to bear and he passed out. 

"Oh no." Erza said in horror. "Oh no. What did I do?!"

The flames rose higher as a sign of her intense guilt and regret. Her tears increased as well. She killed him. She actually killed him. She killed somebody. She didn't mean to. But that didn't matter did it? She pretty much destroyed anything and anyone that tried to get close to her. She should just be alone for the rest of her life. It was for the best. Her friends, her family, pretty much everyone she knew was better off without her.

Meanwhile Gray and the other two girls had managed to go outside without being effected by the moonlight by having Lucy and Juvia wear hoodies and keep their heads down. They got into a boat which Gray drove to the island. By the time they arrived it was dawn however the moon was still up.

"What on earth happened here?" Juvia asked when she saw the burnt and charred plant life. 

"I think we can assume that Erza did come here last night." Lucy said.

"And I think we can assume that she wasn't alone." Gray said pointing toward the other boat parked at the shore.

"Uh-oh." Juvia said. "Do you think she might have exposed our secret to someone?"

"Let's hope not. Come on we better find her." Lucy said.

They followed the burned remains of trees and leaves to find Erza. To their relief she was alright but to their horror Jellal was lying motionless next to her.

"Oh my God." Juvia gasped.

"Erza what did you do to him?" Lucy asked.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" She wept.

Gray went over to Jellal's side and checked for a pulse.

"Alright no one panic he's still breathing." Gray said. "He's dehydrated but he's still alive."

"Gray get him out of here and give him some water." Juvia said. "We'll take care of Erza."

"Right." He said as he started to drag Jellal's unconscious back to the front of the island. 

"Erza you have to come with us." Lucy told her. "We know how to help you."

"I don't need your help." Erza said. "I need you two to just go."

"We can't leave you." Juvia said. "Especially like this."

"Yes you can!" She cried. "You have to!"

"Why?"

"Erza you can trust us." Lucy said. "Please come with us. It's for your own good."

"I'm alone for my own good!" Erza argued. "I'm better off alone! I don't deserve to have friends!"

"That's not true."

"Yes it is! I either hurt the people I care about or drive them away! Just like my dad! You both you say you know what it's like to lose a parent? Well you don't know what it's like to lose a parent the way I lost mine!" 

"What are you talking about?"

"Your mother and her parents died! But my father didn't! He left! He left me and my mother and my sister! I drove him away because all I did was cause trouble for him!"

"Erza why didn't you ever tell us?" Juvia asked.

"You'd never be able to understand. You don't know what it's like to be rejected by someone who's supposed to love you and take care of you. To spend your entire childhood wondering why your own parent left you behind like some common garbage? To wonder what you did wrong? To blame yourself for the fact that your mother lost the love of her life and that your little sister had to grow up never knowing her own father!"

Lucy and Juvia looked at their sobbing friend. She was racked with emotion and hurt. Feeling unimportant and alone, feeling like she had no one who could help her.

"Erza you don't have to be alone." Lucy said. "Keeping your feelings bottled up and living in isolation won't make the hurt go away."

"And I don't think your at fault for your father leaving." Juvia said. "Does your mother and sister blame you for him leaving?"

"I don't know! But they should!"

"No they shouldn't. Erza don't push us away. We want to help you."

"Why?"

"Because we're friends and that's what friends do. They help each other no matter what."

"We won't reject you. Ever." Lucy said. "We promise."

They both held out a hand to Erza. She still reluctant to herself with them but eventually she took both of their hands and allowed them to lead her to the moon pool. Once they got in the water Erza went out like a light and the water around them started boiling. Lucy and Juvia held her up and tried to wake her but she wouldn't stir.

"Anna said if we got her back in the pool she would be back to normal." Juvia said.

"Normal is a relative term." Lucy said. "Come on Erza! Snap out of it! You're safe now. You're okay."

Still nothing. Lucy and Juvia were getting scared but when the moon finally set the water cooled down and Erza awoke. 

"Huh?" She said feeling dazed. "What's going on? What are we doing here?"

Lucy and Juvia gave her a smile of relief. She recognized their smiles as the same one she always gave them after they recovered from the moon spell.

"Did I get a little too much moonlight last night?" She asked feeling embarrassed. 

"You could say that." Lucy chuckled. 

As expected Erza had no memory of what happened the night before but she did feel different. She felt like she could trust her friends more and she now felt that she had the strength to do something she thought she'd never be able to do. Talk to her family about her father and find out if they held her responsible for him leaving.

"Do you need us to go with you?" Lucy asked her as they were leaving the juice bar.

"No. I'm sure I'll be fine but if something goes wrong I'll call you guys." She said. 

During the walk out they accidentally bumped into Jellal who was still a little red from last night.

"Erza can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked. 

"Not really. I have to get home."

"I just want to know if you're okay."

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you were crying when I saw you last night."

"You saw me last night?"

"Yes. You don't remember?"

"Uh...No."

"Oh...Too bad. Because that was one hell of a kiss."

Lucy and Juvia looked at Erza in shock while utter horror was in the red head's face.

"Kiss?" She squeaked. "I...Kissed you?"

"Yeah and I think you have me a hickey or something because I blacked out and now my lips are a little sore." He rubbed his mouth. "Which reminds me I need chapstick. Excuse me ladies."

He walked away to the nearest store leaving the three girls dumbfounded. 

"You didn't." Lucy said to Erza.

"I didn't! I mean I didn't do it of my own free will." 

"I knew it!" Juvia smiled. "I knew the only reason you bicker with him is because you like him!"

"That's not true! And if you tell anyone about this I'll- Ugh! I'm going home!" With that said she stomped off while her two friends laughed.


	32. Chapter 32

After that last full moon incident Gray became determined to find a scientific explanation for all of this. Like most people with great level of intelligence he relied mainly on logic and reason. Things like magic just didn't make any sense to him and he didn't believe in it either much to the annoyance of Anna. So he began to study the girls in their mermaid form, watched them whenever they used their powers over water, and would occasionally take a hair sample from them which resulted in Erza hitting him. He kept a journal which he wrote notes in about what he had learned and observed. Lucy objected to the idea but he assured her he'd keep his journal locked and hidden so that no one would see what he had written. Or what he had sketched.

One afternoon he was working on something in his journal by the docks while waiting for the fish to bite. At that same time Natsu was going surfing and happened to notice him. He walked by to say hello but then became curious about what Gray was so busy with.

"Hey Gray whatcha doing?" He asked in a way that startled him.

"Nothing!" Gray said closing his journal before the surfer could see it.

"Oh really? Then why so quick to hide it?"

"Because it's none of your business. It's private."

"Are you keeping a diary?"

"No it's a research journal for a project I'm doing. I don't want anyone to cheat off my work or steal my idea."

"Okay fair enough. Hey look I think you got a bite." Natsu said pointing over to Gray's fishing pole.

"Really?"

When Gray turned his head to look, Natsu grabbed the journal from his hand and started to run around the docks with it. Gray chased him and tried to get it back before Natsu could read or see what was inside.

"Give it back Natsu!" He demanded.

"In a minute. I just wanna see what you're hiding."

Natsu opened the journal and looked inside. Gray felt as if he was going to panic. If Natsu read any of his notes and actually believed what was written, words could not describe how much the trouble would follow. The girls's secret could be exposed. They could be captured by the government or circus people, he didn't which scenario would be worse. And to top it all off Erza would probably kill him since technically it would be all his fault.

"This is what you call research?" Natsu chuckled before showing Gray the page he had turned to. It was a marked page which was why Natsu turned to that one instead of the others and on it wasn't his notes. It was a drawing. A few days back Juvia and Gray had gone to Tendrou Island for him to do some research. While he was examining some water samples from the sea and the moon pool he spotted Juvia perched on a rock looking out at the sun which was setting over the ocean's horizon. She had looked so beautiful in that position with the wind gently blowing her hair back and the sun's light bouncing off her skin and eyes that he couldn't help but think that it would make a very nice picture. So in that moment he sketched her image but made sure not to her tail inn the picture.

Though relieved that Natsu had found the drawing instead of the notes he was nevertheless upset by this discovery as well. 

"It's not what it looks like." Gray said. "Juvia asked me yo draw that for her. She wanted a self portrait."

"Really? Then why was it in your journal?"

"I haven't finished it for her."

"Oh? Okay then you wouldn't mind if I talked to Juvia about this would you?"

"No!" He said in a panic. 

"Ha! I knew it!" Natsu laughed. "You like her." 

"No I don't." 

"Yes you do." 

"No way." 

"Yes way." 

"You're crazy." 

"You like her and you wanna look at her all the time don't you?" 

"Shut up! It's not true!" 

"Then what's with the personal drawing?" 

"It's not personal it's... It's none of your business why I drew it! And that's all I have to say!" 

"Whatever man but hey don't feel embarrassed. I'm sure lots of guys would have the hots for her." Natsu said. "She's a cool chick with a hot figure." 

"How's this? You talk about her figure again, I'll break your neck." 

"Ooooo...You like her bad." 

"No I don't but I don't like hearing people talk about her like that. She's a nice kid." 

"Kid?! Dude you talk like she's six or something. You guys are the same age." 

"You know what I mean! We grew up together. So of course we're close but there's no liking! That would just make things weird. And give me that!" He snatched the journal from him. 

"So what was with the whole sea look she had in that picture?" Natsu asked. "You draw her as some sort of sea goddess or something?" 

"No but Juvia has always had a certain interest in ocean myths and stories. You remember how when we were kids she loved the fairy tale the Little Mermaid? Well I uh...Paid some homage to it." 

"Okay I guess that makes sense." Natsu said. "I still don't get why anyone would be interested in all that." 

"What do you mean? The legends of those creatures are fascinating." 

"Maybe to you but they give me the creeps. I mean half woman half fish, sounds like some kind of a monster." 

"For your information they're actually very beautiful especially the ones associated with water itself...That is what I've read in books and seen in illustrations that is." 

"You're more open minded than I am man. Honestly I'm glad they don't exist. If they did I would steer clear of them." 

"So you're saying if you saw one in the water you'd run away screaming?" 

"I wouldn't scream but I would stay away from them." 

"Don't like mermaids huh?" Gray deduced before mumbling to himself. "Irony can be so funny." 

"Hey listen I was wondering, do you know if Lucy is free this weekend?" 

"I don't know. Why are you asking me? Why not ask her?" 

"I'm worried that if I ask she'll lie about having plans. I need another date with her. One where nothing will go wrong." 

"I thought you said she told you she wasn't interested in dating anyone." 

"She did tell me that but reminder, some time after that she made out with me and acted like nothing happened. I need this second date so I can finally figure out if she's into me or not." 

"All I can say is good luck. Because girls are complicated and I should know. I spend everyday with three of them." 

"Exactly. Which is why I was thinking maybe you and Juvia could convince her to go on a second date with me?" 

"Who do you think we are? Eros and Psyche? We don't do matchmaking." 

"Oh come on help a brother out. I'd do it for you." 

Gray was about to say no again but Natsu gave him the pleading, big eye look. He caved and let out a huff of frustration. 

"I guess we could mention it to her that going out with you again would be a good idea." 

"Thanks man. You're the best." 

"Yeah, yeah, just don't tell anyone about that drawing okay?" 

"I won't say a word. I promise." 


End file.
